Since testing positive for COVID-19 last month, Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin has made a full recovery. He joins us to discuss his city’s response to the pandemic.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has teamed up with his counterparts in Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Kentucky on a coordinated effort to reopen local economies as they work to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.

The government said 5.2 million more Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, bringing the four-week total to about 22 million out of a work force of 159 million — easily the worst stretch of U.S. job losses on record. 

Chicago-area public transportation got $1.43 billion in CARES Act funding, which the revenue-strapped agencies hope arrives soon. But the Regional Transportation Authority warns they shouldn’t plan on another round of federal bailout money.

As federal officials weigh how and when to reopen the country, experts worry that the United States does not have enough public health workers to suppress another outbreak, especially those qualified to do contact tracing.

President Donald Trump has halted funding to the World Health Organization until a review can be conducted of its pandemic response. U.S. Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Jan Schakowsky weigh in on that and other recent moves by Trump.

Chicago’s Albany Park neighborhood is home to immigrants from all over the world. But the area is now seeing an uptick in gun violence and threats to housing stability, the area alderman says.

The novel coronavirus has closed schools, restaurants, bars and businesses throughout the state, and on Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker revealed how the pandemic will cause a $2.7 billion shortfall this year and a $4.6 billion shortfall next year.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot called on the city’s watchdog to complete his probe into what happened before — and after — former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson was discovered asleep in his running car after a night of drinking.

“We have just been crushed” by the coronavirus, said Metra CFO Tom Farmer. The agency has seen ridership drop as much as 97% during the pandemic.

When the governor issued a stay-at-home order last month, cases of COVID-19 were more than doubling every three days in Chicago. Had that rate held steady, approximately 64,500 Chicagoans would have been sickened by now, according to new data.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot presided over the city’s first virtual meeting Wednesday morning from her office on the 5th floor of City Hall, with 48 aldermen connected via Zoom.

The United States is WHO’s largest single donor, contributing between $400 million and $500 million annually to the Geneva-based agency in recent years.

The City Council will write a new chapter in the history books Wednesday by meeting virtually to keep from spreading the coronavirus. The meeting will follow an “abbreviated agenda” and is designed “primarily to adopt rules addressing meetings by videoconference.”

Like other predominantly African American neighborhoods in Chicago, Austin has seen a disproportionately high number of COVID-19 cases. We speak with state Rep. La Shawn Ford, whose district includes much of the neighborhood and several western suburbs.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the state of Illinois is making strides in its fight against the novel coronavirus, pointing Tuesday to key metrics that show “a deceleration of virus transmission.”