Chicago and suburban Cook, Lake, Kane, McHenry and DuPage counties moved Monday from Tier 3 to Tier 2 after the Illinois Department of Public Health launched a new plan to add hospital staff and beds where the need is greatest.
Illinois Department of Public Health


The effort to inoculate all 850,000 health care workers and long-term care facility residents in Illinois from COVID-19 will be “substantially complete” next week, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Friday.

A variant of the coronavirus first discovered in the United Kingdom and believed to be more transmissible is present in Chicago, city health officials announced Friday.

“Most people survive this illness but some don’t,” Illinois’ top doctor said before receiving her first dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. “I don’t want to gamble with my life and I don’t want anyone else to gamble with theirs.”

With fewer than 350,000 doses of coronavirus vaccine administered to date in Illinois, Gov. J. B. Pritzker urged patience among residents, stating: “We all want this to happen faster.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said on Twitter that the benchmark was a “tragic milestone” that was “heart-wrenching.”

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Wednesday the toughest restrictions in place to stop the spread of the coronavirus could lift in regions across the state as soon as Jan. 15.

Once efforts to inoculate health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities from COVID-19 are complete, Illinois residents 65 and older as well as essential workers will be eligible for the vaccine, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.

“People should be wary of anyone who offers the vaccine or promises priority access to the vaccine or a COVID-19 cure in exchange for money,” said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.

Noting over the weekend that the holidays may result in lower numbers related to the coronavirus, state health officials announced just under 4,500 new and probable cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Thursday announced an additional 8,009 confirmed and probable coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total in two weeks.

Amid a weekslong surge in new COVID-19 cases in Illinois that has prompted tightened restrictions and warnings not to travel during the holiday season, public health data shows a dip in the number of cases and tests in the days following Christmas.

“We ask that IDPH acknowledge the high risk of COVID-19 exposure for people living in all forms of state custody and the staff who work with them and prioritize them for vaccinations,” dozens of groups wrote in a letter to state health officials.

More than 100,991 Illinois residents have gotten an initial dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine, leading the nation, Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced Wednesday.
US Surgeon General Pays a Visit to Chicago

Just days before Christmas, a trio of high-profile doctors, including U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams, made a plea for people to follow public health measures designed to stop the spread of COVID-19, even as two vaccines are being distributed across the U.S.

As Illinois reaches another grim milestone in the number of COVID-19 cases, December is on pace to become the state’s deadliest month, an analysis of public health data shows.