Dr. Allison Arwady said investigators have not found any evidence that COVID-19 had been transmitted to students or teachers at Jensen Elementary School. “I know people are worried,” Arwady said. “The desire when something tragic like this happens is to pin blame on someone or something. But the blame here really belongs to the virus.”

The mayor’s latest push for vaccinations invokes the city’s 77 community areas to encourage Chicagoans from all neighborhoods to get vaccinated — and to enlist those who have already been jabbed with the lifesaving vaccine to help others follow their lead.

Unvaccinated visitors to Chicago from 48 states as well as Washington, D.C., Guam and the Virgin Islands are urged to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test for the coronavirus within 72 hours of their arrival, officials said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot told WTTW News on Monday night she was “disappointed” that efforts to test all Chicago Public Schools students and staff for COVID-19 had gotten off to a slow and confusing start. 

Chicago officials will expand their efforts to bring lifesaving vaccines directly to those who have yet to be vaccinated by going door-to-door in more parts of the city while launching an effort to contact unvaccinated residents by phone.

The advisory now covers 48 states as well as Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands, said Dr. Allison Arwady, Chicago’s top doctor. “This is an encouraging snapshot of the nation’s daily COVID data, but by no means can we let our guard down now,” she said.

Chicagoans who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 should not travel, Dr. Allison Arwady announced Wednesday, as officials expanded the city’s advisory designed to stop the spread of the still-surging virus to every state and territory in the U.S.

Chicagoans who get vaccinated by the Chicago Department of Public Health starting Saturday will get both a lifesaving inoculation against COVID-19 and also a $100 gift card, city officials announced.

Students at an unidentified Chicago university who traveled over spring break sparked an outbreak of COVID-19 that sickened 158 people, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Thursday.

The city’s travel advisory now covers 48 states as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the Virgin Islands, officials said Tuesday.

Everyone in Chicago, regardless of their vaccination status, must wear a mask indoors starting Friday, Chicago’s top doctor announced Tuesday. The mandate comes amid the city’s fourth surge in COVID-19 infections, driven by the more transmissible delta variant.

Chicago Public Schools will not require eligible students to get a COVID-19 vaccine, but once in-person classes resume Aug. 30, those who are unvaccinated and test positive for the virus must quarantine for 14 days.

With less than three weeks until in-person classes resume, Chicago Public Schools has announced it will require all teachers and staff to get a COVID-19 vaccine by the fall.

As summer winds down, Illinois continues to see a spike in COVID-19 cases, with more than 3,100 new infections reported by state health officials Thursday. Dr. Susan Bleasdale of UI Health breaks down the latest data and recommendations.

Just over 200 people who attended the four-day music festival have tested positive during the 14 days since the event kicked off in Grant Park on July 29, said Dr. Allison Arwady, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Public Health.

The advisory now covers 31 states — including those that border Illinois — as well as Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C. Unvaccinated visitors to Chicago from those states are urged to quarantine for 10 days or record a negative test within 72 hours of their arrival, officials said.