Since January, more than 656,000 cases of the coronavirus have been reported in Illinois and 11,506 people have died as a result of the virus, according to state health officials.

“Feeding hunger is also feeding the spirit, that’s what events like this do,” said Ron Manderschied, president of Northwestern Settlement. “It provides the food for sustenance but also feeds the soul.” 

The overall U.S. death toll has reached about 254,000, by far the most in the world. Confirmed infections have eclipsed more than 11.8 million, after the biggest one-day gain on record Thursday — almost 188,000. 

State officials have nearly completed an effort to send $300 million in housing assistance grants to Illinois residents struggling to make ends meet. The program is the largest in the nation, officials said.

As college students prepare to go home for the holidays, some schools are quickly ramping up COVID-19 testing to try to keep infections from spreading further as the coronavirus surges across the U.S.

A coalition of over 35 organizations is working to make distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in Chicago equitable. We speak with three members of the Vaccine Corps Partnership.

With the coronavirus surging out of control, the nation’s top public health agency pleaded with Americans on Thursday not to travel for Thanksgiving and not to spend the holiday with people from outside their household.

“My No. 1 consideration is not whether someone’s going to get angry at me,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday. “It’s whether I can save a life or save the lives of people who are potentially going to get sick."

Three firms involved in the botched smokestack demolition in Little Village will pay $370,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, his office announced Thursday.

The delays are happening as the country braces for winter weather, flu season and holiday travel, all of which are expected to amplify a U.S. outbreak that has already swelled past 11.5 million cases and 250,000 deaths.

As COVID-19 continues to surge in Illinois, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are bracing for what’s likely to come. 

November is Diabetes Awareness Month. With one in three Americans at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, we learn about a local initiative that aims to prevent residents from developing the disease.

“COVID-19 is now the third leading cause of death in Illinois, behind heart disease and cancer,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday as state health officials reported 8,922 new COVID-19 cases and 140 virus-related deaths.

The announcement by the Food and Drug Administration represents an important step in U.S. efforts to expand testing options for COVID-19 beyond health care facilities and testing sites. 

Acknowledging that demand for COVID-19 tests has grown exponentially during a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, Chicago officials announced Wednesday that the city will open a new testing site at Midway Airport.

Heidi Stevens is a writer at the Chicago Tribune who taps into many of her own experiences for her “Balancing Act" column. But writing about her COVID-19 diagnosis — and an underlying heart condition — gave her pause.