Regardless of the presidential election outcome, a vexing issue remains to be decided: Will the U.S. be able to tame a perilous pandemic that is surging as holidays, winter and other challenges approach? 

If you’re experiencing some fear and trepidation around the 2020 election, you’re not alone. That heightened stress and anxiety has a name that was coined in 2016: election stress disorder.

“Local officials who are not doing the right thing are going to be the ones responsible for our rates of infection going through the roof,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday.

After being hit with a dozen citations from city inspectors in the past year, General Iron has agreed to pay a penalty. Meanwhile, environmental activists continue their fight to block the scrap metal recycler’s move.

If you plan to vote in person on Election Day, state health officials have some requests. “Don’t forget to wear a mask and keep your distance,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday.

President Donald Trump is suggesting that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci after Tuesday’s election, as his rift with the nation’s top infectious disease expert widens.

For three days in a row, state health officials reported record highs in the number of new COVID-19 cases in Illinois. That streak ended Sunday but the state’s positivity rate crept up to 8%.

State health officials reported 7,899 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the third consecutive day in which Illinois saw its highest number of new infections within a 24-hour period since the coronavirus pandemic hit the state.

Illinois reports a record 6,943 new COVID-19 cases in a single day, surpassing the previous record set one day earlier. As cases rise so do tensions between Gov. J.B. Pritzker and business owners amid pandemic-related closures.

“It’s unfortunate,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Friday. “Look, this disease is unrelenting, it doesn’t care about what the location is and what we’re trying to do here is to limit the cases, the hospitalizations and the deaths.”

Kenosha, Wisconsin, just over the Illinois border, became the epicenter of violent unrest this summer after the police shooting of Jacob Blake. A few months later, Kenosha is in the midst of early voting – and it’s a hotly contested county.

Brandis Friedman sits down with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to talk about where things stand now with the pandemic and where they’re headed. 

Gov. J.B. Pritzker issued a grave warning on Thursday as Illinois officials reported 6,363 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, telling residents that the pandemic has entered the most dangerous phase since the spring.

Nine of the state’s 11 regions have triggered the state’s fail-safe metrics designed to stop the spread of the coronavirus, with the addition of much of West-Central Illinois, including Springfield and Quincy, on Thursday.

Restrictions ordered by Gov. J.B. Pritzker to stop the spread of COVID-19 take effect at midnight Friday. Mayor Lightfoot altered her plan to align with the restrictions laid out by the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Applications for unemployment aid fell 40,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said. They fell in 30 states, including big drops in California, Florida and Texas. But claims rose significantly in Arizona, Illinois and Michigan.