Starting Friday, Chicago and the state of Illinois will fully reopen. It’s a day that many people have longed for, but if you’re experiencing anxiety about a return to something like normal, you’re not alone.

The Spanish government hopes to welcome 14.5 million to 15.5 million visitors between July and September. That’s about 40% of the tourists in the same period of 2019 but twice as many as last summer, when only EU visitors could enter Spain.

Massachusetts and the rest of New England — the most heavily vaccinated region in the U.S. — are giving the rest of the country a possible glimpse of the future if more Americans get their shots.

City officials are targeting the 13 Chicago neighborhoods that have the lowest rate of vaccination as part of a push to bring the life-saving shots directly to those most at risk of falling ill and dying from COVID-19.

People who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 should continue to wear face coverings in crowded settings and maintain 6 feet of social distance when inside businesses and venues, even after Illinois moves into phase 5 of its reopening plan, according to new guidance.

The French government announced Friday that it is removing the need for coronavirus tests for vaccinated Europeans. It also is allowing vaccinated tourists from most of the rest of the world, if they have a negative test.

Northalsted, formerly called “Boystown,” is known as the center of LGBTQ life in Chicago. As Pride celebrations begin, the community has just started to recover the vibrant character that made it famous following last year’s pandemic and civil unrest.

Skateboarding has long been considered a sport, an art form and even a lifestyle by its devotees. In Chicago, a new program has helped young people break out of the pandemic blues by learning the basics of skateboarding while picking up valuable life lessons along the way.

How long do vaccines last? That’s now a critical question as the Biden administration prepares to send tens of millions of unused COVID-19 doses abroad to help curb the pandemic. 

Roughly 50 social media influencers are using their platforms to encourage people to get vaccinated by sharing their own experiences with the shots. “I want to do my part to get back to normal,” said McKinley Nelson of Project sWish. 

Amid a steep decline in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Chicago officials will lift all restrictions on businesses and gatherings next Friday, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. 

Dangling everything from sports tickets to a free beer, President Joe Biden is looking for that extra something — anything — that will get people to roll up their sleeves for COVID-19 shots when the promise of a life-saving vaccine by itself hasn’t been enough. 

Tokyo is under a COVID-19 state of emergency, but International Olympic Committee Vice President John Coates has said the games will open on July 23 — state of emergency, or no state of emergency.

For the first time in nearly a year, visitors to Chicago from anywhere within the United States do not have to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for COVID-19, city officials announced Tuesday.

A DePaul University study of nearly 280 long-haulers — people who experience symptoms of COVID-19 months after their initial diagnosis — found that while most of the symptoms improved over time, some lingered or even got worse.

On Memorial Day, Americans remember and celebrate members of the military who made the ultimate sacrifice. But living veterans have fought another enemy over the past year: the coronavirus pandemic.