City Lights Go Dark For COVID-19 Victims As Mayor Lightfoot Expresses Hope That Biden Administration Can Help End Pandemic

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Lights around the city went dark, health care workers stopped for a moment of silence, and candles burned in memoriam Tuesday evening for victims of COVID-19.

As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported, Mayor Lori Lightfoot also took pause, hoping a new president will bring an end to the pandemic.

The vibrant lights of the Nederlander Theatre, 24 W. Randolph St. were extinguished Tuesday evening – but not because the venue was dark. The lights went out for 19 seconds on this Tuesday, Jan. 19, to remember all of those lost to COVID-19.

Meanwhile outside Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, about two dozen nurses stood outside while remaining staff stayed inside to remember – pausing also for a moment of silence.

"Let us remember there is a human life behind each statistic and recited number," a leader of the vigil said.

Frontline health care workers – all touted as heroes during the pandemic – said COVID has touched their coworkers, patients, and families – and their hearts.

"All the mourning that our team has done because we are not a like normal surgical unit - just seeing families that couldn't be able to come in – that means so much to us just to have the time to reflect," a health care worker said.

Theaters were not the only venues to go dark Tuesday night. The famous marquee lights at Wrigley Field were also extinguished, and Navy Pier's majestic Ferris wheel was also shrouded in darkness or a spell.

"Hope is what will unite us," said Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

At Cloud Gate, or the Bean, in Millennium Park, Mayor Lightfoot talked of hope as she stood with her wife to watch some skyscraper lights turn off. On the eve of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, the mayor found the lights' re-illumination symbolic.

"We made it very clear to the Biden administration, we want to work hand-in-glove with them," Lightfoot said. "They need a deal with mayors in, and we need more vaccine."

Candles, whether real or not, are also burning as a sign of hope for a COVID-free future, and in honor of the more than 18,000 Illinoisans who have died due to the pandemic.

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