The Cook County Department of Public Health will scale up its COVID-19 contact tracing program within the next six months, thanks to a $41 million grant from the Illinois Department of Public Health. 

After six weeks on a ventilator and life-support machine, a 20-year-old woman whose lungs were damaged by COVID-19 received what is believed to be among the first double lung transplants performed on a survivor of the virus.

A group of Republican lawmakers are calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to lift additional restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus by Friday — weeks ahead of the timeline outlined in the governor’s reopening plan for Illinois.

While schools and nonessential businesses temporarily closed in March, hundreds of child care centers stayed open to care for the children of essential workers. The state is now dedicating millions of dollars toward their financial health.

Herd immunity is when a virus can no longer spread easily because enough people are immune to it. That lowers the chances of the virus jumping from person to person and reaching those who haven’t been infected yet.

On the Southeast Side, a community deals with the aftermath of property damage and looting against the backdrop of ongoing concerns over COVID-19 and environmental pollution.

Sports fans, the countdown can finally begin. As the country takes its first steps out of a coronavirus-induced slumber, plans for the re-emergence of pro sports are surfacing. 

It’s a conversation that goes hand-in-hand with learning how to drive. But many people argue “the talk” should not have to happen at all. 

Illinois officials are dipping their toes into the idea of allowing swimming as the state begins its second week in phase three of Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s reopening plan.

Chicago parks have reopened — though technically the outdoors was never “closed,” except along the lakefront — but access to facilities and equipment will remain limited.

Chicago Public Library branches are reopened as of Monday, but patrons will experience a few new restrictions. 

Worshippers were able to legally meet together Sunday in Chicago churches and other religious institutions — albeit with limitations in place — for the first time since orders meant to limit the spread of the coronavirus took effect.

Illinois’ total number of coronavirus cases reached 127,757 on Sunday as the state again reported fewer than 1,000 new cases over the past 24 hours. But doctors and officials fear that number could spike in the near future.

Speaking on National Gun Violence Awareness Day, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said Friday there has been a marked increase in gun violence in 2020, despite a stay-at-home order that was in place statewide for more than two months during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the milestone was the result of the “incredible work of so many people behind the scenes.”

Several authors of a large study that raised safety concerns about malaria drugs for coronavirus patients have retracted the report, saying independent reviewers were not able to verify information that’s been widely questioned by other scientists.