Stories by Erica Gunderson

As Chicagoans hunker down amid the pandemic, we check in with some familiar faces on how they’re weathering the storm – and what music they’re listening to.

There hasn’t been a whole lot of good news in 2020, but here’s something to get excited about: Tuesday’s supermoon will be the closest the full moon gets to Earth in 2020, meaning it will look bigger and brighter than any other full moon this year.

The pandemic is causing extreme distress in communities all across Chicago. Chatham, on the city’s South Side, is home to a high population of African American senior citizens – a group that is doubly vulnerable to severe complications from the disease. 

So far, 307 people have died in Illinois after testing positive for the coronavirus — numbers which stand to strain not only the health care system, but the system for dealing with the deceased.

With cases of COVID-19 expected to peak in Illinois later this month, are hospitals and health care workers in the state going to have what they need when they really need it?

College students across Illinois are asking their universities for some amount of tuition refund as schools move their students off campus and their classes online due to the coronavirus.

Illinois has only received a fraction of the personal protective equipment it requested from the federal government. “It’s our own state procurement initiative that’s making a difference” in the fight against COVID-19, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Monday.

Black Chicagoans make up 30% of the city’s population, but 72% of its COVID-19 deaths, according to newly released data. “Those numbers take your breath away,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. “It’s unacceptable. No one should think this is OK.”

Black Chicagoans account for 72% of COVID-19 deaths in the city, while only making up 30% of the overall population, public health officials announced Monday. “It is something we’re following very closely,” said 6th Ward Ald. Roderick Sawyer.

A Chicago community foundation is raising millions for dozens of local nonprofits on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic. We speak with Dr. Helene Gayle, president and CEO of the Chicago Community Trust.

The Wicker Park resident hula hooped for 100 hours last fall, hoping to set a new world record and raising nearly $5,000 for the nonprofit Mental Health America along the way. “It’s a big relief,” the 29-year-old said.

Watch the April 6, 2020 full episode of “Chicago Tonight.”

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is joining forces with the city’s professional sports teams to encourage people to stay home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “They’re not playing and neither are we,” Lightfoot said. 

No sewing machine? No problem. The surgeon general demonstrates how to make a no-sew cloth mask.

The chorus frog has been filling forest preserves with the sound of its mating calls. Here’s why that’s such good news.

Missing that chatty CTA conductor from your morning commute? Have a hankering for an old fashioned mixed up by your favorite bartender? So are we. Join us as we pay tribute to the everyday folks who make Chicago great.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s choice for the next superintendent of the city’s police department still has to be confirmed by the City Council and he’s got no official start date, but David Brown is “at your service,” Chicago. 

The novel coronavirus is believed to more severely impact those who are elderly, immunocompromised or have underlying health conditions. But demographic data points to another group that appears to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.

Just over two weeks into a mandatory stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said he is considering additional steps to curb the spread of COVID-19. Cases across the state now stand at 11,256.

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo has tested positive for the new coronavirus, in what is believed to be the first known infection in an animal in the U.S. or a tiger anywhere, federal officials and the zoo said Sunday.

Joe Biden said Sunday that the Democratic National Convention, already delayed until August because of the coronavirus, may need to take place online as the pandemic continues to reshape the race for the White House.

How is the coronavirus impacting neighborhoods across the city? Paris Schutz reports from Uptown, South Shore, Chinatown, Highwood and more communities across Chicago.

The U.S. surgeon general offered some of the starkest warnings yet Sunday as he braced Americans for the worsening fallout from the new coronavirus, warning “this is going to be the hardest and the saddest week of most Americans’ lives, quite frankly.” 

The number of coronavirus cases in Illinois has surpassed the 10,000 mark with nearly 250 deaths. Given those numbers, Gov. J.B. Pritkzer said anyone flouting his stay-at-home order is “either not paying attention to the news, or they’re stupid.”

Illinois saw its largest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Friday, with an additional 1,209 people testing positive for the virus. A growing number of Chicago cases prompts the creation of a field hospital at McCormick Place.

President Donald Trump announced new federal guidelines Friday recommending that Americans wear face coverings when in public to help fight the spread of the new coronavirus. The president immediately said he had no intention of following the advice himself, saying, “I’m choosing not to do it.”