In late January 2020, a 60-year-old woman became the first person in Chicago confirmed to have contracted coronavirus. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has become a defining story for this age, both in the city and around the world. Below, find Sun-Times reporting from the last two years on the virus, government politics, vaccines, school closures and more.
Coronavirus in Chicago, Illinois
Sun-Times reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Chicago’s present and future
749
Total Updates Since
October 16, 2005 06:00 AM
October 16, 2005 06:00 AM
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The Illinois Department of Public Health reported 3,340 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, the highest daily count in two months and the latest red flag in the state’s three-week upswing in infections.
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The change in coronavirus data reporting follows new guidelines set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which place more emphasis on hospitalizations and case rates per 100,000 residents.
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Coronavirus cases have increased in Chicago by 27% since last week. And for the first time in about a month, four southern Illinois counties have hit the “high transmission” threshold set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meaning masks are recommended for people gathering indoors in those downstate areas.
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Cases have been on an incline since March 21, but it’s still “nothing alarming at this point,” Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said of the mini-spike that’s being driven by the BA.2 subvariant.
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Case counts have remained relatively flat across most of the state, but the average seven-day positivity rate is at the highest point seen in a month. COVID deaths across the state have continued to plummet. The city is averaging less than one viral death per day.
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The low ICU total is just one facet of the state’s broad improvement in COVID-19 metrics over the past month.
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Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady advised Chicagoans to enjoy the sense of normalcy — but to be ready for mitigations to return in case of another surge. Arwady added any such move would just be “temporary,” and “hopefully, it’s not something we’ll need again.”
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As the coronavirus pandemic enters year three, some nurses opt for jobs that allow more autonomy — such as travel nursing — and offer higher pay, while others choose new gigs in hospitals — for less pay — to try to manage the stress and exhaustion they’ve experienced since 2020.
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Average daily cases fell 20% statewide in the days after Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the indoor mask mandate.
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As she prepared to leave the public stage on March 14, the state’s top doctor spoke of serving as a key adviser, calm leader, comforting voice — and “a role model to young girls, girls of color, little Black girls, that they can be leaders in any field.”