With coronavirus infections and hospitalizations on the rise, officials are again urging residents to do their part in fighting the virus as health care workers face a COVID-19 crisis.

The Cook County Sheriff’s Office announced that beginning Monday, it will temporarily halt visits at the jail as Chicago and Cook County continue dealing with a second surge of COVID-19.

For the 10th consecutive day, public health officials reported more than 10,000 new COVID-19 infections in Illinois within a 24-hour period. 

U.S. health officials are taking a new tack to encourage Americans to wear masks: They’re emphasizing recent research that a mask protects the person who wears it.

Coronavirus cases soar. Local contenders for Biden’s Cabinet. President Trump makes unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Mayor Lightfoot threatens aldermen. A winner in a close congressional race.

In the midst of a surge in COVID-19 cases, health officials are now warning Chicagoans about possible exposure to another infectious disease.

Illinois on Friday set a new record for the most COVID-19 cases reported in a 24-hour period, as Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the state’s ban on evictions caused by the pandemic would be extended until Dec. 16.

A 25-minute drive southwest of the Loop, the West Lawn community is home to many essential workers and has one of the highest rates of COVID-19 in the city.

Cook County Jail was once the hot spot for the coronavirus, but now the positivity rate is lower there than in Chicago and Cook County. As COVID-19 surges in the community, officials and advocates worry it will reach detainees.

Barring a dramatic turnaround in the spiking numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths in Illinois, the state may soon be looking at another version of a stay-at-home order, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Thursday.

Federal health officials have reached an agreement with pharmacies across the U.S. to distribute free coronavirus vaccines after they are approved and become available to the public.

New guidelines imposed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, set to take effect at 6 a.m. Monday, are advisory and do not include orders for businesses to shut down or require people to stay home, officials said.

The U.S. has recorded over 240,000 deaths and about 10.3 million confirmed infections, with new cases soaring to all-time highs of well over 120,000 per day over the past week.

On Wednesday, Illinois set a new single-day record of COVID-19 cases as state health officials reported 145 virus-related deaths. Officials are urging residents to work from home and limit non-essential activity in the coming weeks.

The Board of Education has agreed to engage in mediation with teachers, but said it won't discuss the most pressing issue for the union: when students will return to school.

The announcement came less than a week after an election seen as a referendum on President Donald Trump’s handling of the scourge, which has killed more than 1.2 million people worldwide.