COVID-19

The average school vaccination rate is 39.6 percent across all schools. Rates remain the lowest at predominantly Black schools on the South and West sides, according to a data analysis by Chalkbeat.

The health department recommends everyone 6 months and older get their flu shot before the end of October. Officials also urge people to get their COVID-19 vaccination shots.

The Italian spot struggled with foot traffic before the pandemic, and that "battle resumed once the world opened back up and people had so many more options," Pisolino's co-owner said.

The bivalent boosters are free and available to everyone 12 and older who has already gotten their initial vaccine shots. People should get them as soon as possible, officials urged.

The bivalent booster shots will be key to protecting people from Omicron and preventing another surge, officials said. They'll be available for free to Chicagoans 12 and older.

Many restaurants have hiked wages, but it's not enough for workers disillusioned by cranky customers and grueling work. “If you don’t have to go back to hell, why set yourself up to burn?”

Dr. Allison Arwady has become known as a guiding force for Chicago during the pandemic, hosting news conference and livestreams where she's answered Chicagoans' questions and talked about the city's progress.

CPS will continue its mask-optional policy and school-based COVID-19 testing, but there is no quarantine requirement for students exposed to coronavirus, unless they test positive.

The River North Residents Association is raising $100,000 to sustain its work after it pivoted to a new festival format that didn't attract as many attendees as organizers hoped.

"As we continue to move toward living with this virus, my administration will relax some requirements while continuing to protect the most vulnerable," Gov. JB Pritzker said.

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.