Coronavirus

BA.4 and BA.5 are spreading in Cook County, but residents can take steps to protect themselves, according to the health department.

Anyone 6 months and older can get a COVID-19 vaccine. South Side sites are open throughout the summer for families.

Chicago moved into the high-risk category in late May as COVID-19 cases spiked yet again, putting a burden on the health care system. But newly reported cases and hospitalizations are dropping.

Chicago Public Schools cases have increased in recent weeks, surpassing what it saw at its previous peak during the Omicron surge.

Chicago's daily case rate has gone up in recent weeks, but the numbers of people hospitalized with and dying from COVID-19 have remained low.

The tests come as the United States is in the midst of another COVID-19 wave due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant and its sub-variants.

State and local officials across Nevada signed agreements with Northshore Clinical Labs, a COVID testing laboratory run by men with local political connections. There was only one problem: Its tests didn’t work.

Reported cases have steadily risen locally and nationally in recent weeks as more contagious versions of the Omicron variant have spread.

The city is seeing nearly 900 COVID-19 cases per day reported, a 24 percent increase since last week even though testing has dropped 2 percent.

Despite the recent surge in cases globally, the United States' most recent proposal to fund the fight against COVID-19 includes little money for international aid.

In December, only 5.4 percent of Dunne students were fully vaccinated. But in the past few months, the school has seen an increase in uptake to 42.3 percent, close to CPS' overall average.

The city's health department is "strongly recommending" people wear masks when indoors in public, including on public transportation.

Cook County's health department announced Friday the suburbs are also considered medium risk and people should wear masks when indoors.

Restaurants that relied on the Downtown lunch crowd struggled to get by when the pandemic sent hundreds of thousands of workers home. Federal agencies began bringing workers back to offices last month.

Chicago, the suburbs and the rest of the state have seen daily COVID-19 cases go up as more contagious variants of Omicron have spread.

Omicron drove cases to record highs over the winter, which Chicago and Illinois hitting peaks in late December and early January.

Black and Latino Chicagoans have been the most affected by worsening life expectancy. Black Chicagoans now live 10 years less than white residents, on average.

Four counties in Illinois — DuPage Country and three others in central Illinois — are considered medium risk.

Southbound traffic on Glenwood Avenue between Lunt and Morse avenues will be closed to drivers starting Friday.

The numbers of people being hospitalized with and dying from COVID-19 remain low, and those are the figures officials are most closely watching, Gov. JB Pritzker said at a Thursday news conference.