(WTTW News)

The U.S. Department of Energy and the FBI both assess that COVID-19 may have leaked from a lab in Wuhan, China. Yet the Energy Department has “low confidence” in its assessment, while FBI director Christopher Wray said the agency has “moderate confidence” in its.

(WTTW News)
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“I’m grateful to Director Jeffreys for his years of service, ensuring the dignity and safety of the incarcerated people of Illinois,” Gov. J.B. Pritzker said in a statement. 

Evena Joseph, left, sits with her son J. Ryan Mathurin, 9, as he does his homework, Thursday, Dec. 22, 2022, at their home, in Boston. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

It’s widely known from test scores that the pandemic set back students across the country. But many parents don’t realize that includes their own child.

A flu vaccine is readied at the L.A. Care and Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plans’ Community Resource Center where they were offering members and the public free flu and COVID-19 vaccines Friday, Oct. 28, 2022, in Lynwood, Calif. (AP Photo / Mark J. Terrill, File)

The vaccines were more than 40% effective in preventing adults from getting sick enough from the flu that they had to go to a doctor’s office, clinic or hospital, health officials said during a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention vaccines meeting Wednesday. 

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle speaks about the county’s cash assistance program on May 18, 2022. (WTTW News)

More than 233,000 Cook County residents applied to be part of the $42 million program, and 3,250 households won a lottery to participate in the two-year program.

President Joe Biden talks with reporters on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Monday, Jan. 30, 2023, after returning from an event in Baltimore on infrastructure. (AP Photo / Susan Walsh)

The move to end the national emergency and public health emergency declarations would formally restructure the federal coronavirus response to treat the virus as an endemic threat to public health that can be managed through agencies’ normal authorities.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

During the past seven days, an average of 31 people have been hospitalized each day in Chicago from COVID-19, down more than 40% during the past week, according to city data last updated Wednesday.

A nurse prepares a syringe of a COVID-19 vaccine at an inoculation station in Jackson, Miss., July 19, 2022. (AP Photo / Rogelio V. Solis, File)

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus.

(WTTW News)

Wastewater sampling has been a key early-warning tool for detecting spikes in the spread of COVID-19, and now Illinois is making its data available to the public through an interactive online dashboard.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot unveils the forecast for the 2023 Chicago budget on Aug. 10, 2022. (WTTW News)
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With less than two months until Election Day, Mayor Lori Lightfoot touts the $16.4 billion spending plan she crafted as a “stability budget” for a city enjoying a faster than expected recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Here’s what it does.

Passengers wearing masks walk through the Capital airport terminal in Beijing on Dec. 13, 2022. (AP Photo / Ng Han Guan, File)

The increase in cases across China follows the rollback of the nation’s strict anti-virus controls. China’s “zero COVID” policies had kept the country’s infection rate low but fueled public frustration and crushed economic growth.

This photo provided by Amy Watson of Portland, Ore., shows her during an iron infusion in December 2022. Watson, approaching 50, says she has “never had any kind of recovery” from COVID-19. She has had severe migraines, plus digestive, nerve and foot problems. Recently she developed severe anemia. (Amy Watson via AP)

Nearly three years into the pandemic, scientists are still trying to figure out why some people get long COVID and why a small portion have lasting symptoms.

(Patty Wetli / WTTW News)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said the city is expected to move from a “medium” risk level for contracting COVID-19 back to a “high” risk level, likely sometime in the next week. When that happens, the city will reinstate an advisory, urging Chicagoans to mask up.

Strep A illustration. (CDC)

“It’s too soon to say whether iGAS case numbers are just returning to pre-pandemic levels or if they are rising beyond what we would normally expect based on what we know about GAS seasonal patterns,” CDC spokesperson Kate Grusich wrote In an email.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot addresses the news media on Wednesday Dec. 14, 2022. (Heather Cherone/WTTW News)

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she is not experiencing symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19.

 A registered nurse works on a computer while assisting a COVID-19 patient in Los Angeles. (AP Photo / Jae C. Hong, File)

Hospital systems around the country are rolling out fees for some messages that patients send to physicians, who they say are spending an increasing amount of time poring over online queries, some so complex that they require the level of medical expertise normally dispensed during an office visit.