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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Under new CDC guidelines, masks are still recommended in 21 counties across southern and central Illinois, but not in any part of the Chicago area.
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In a lawsuit in Cook County, Sandra Diaz alleges her landlord wrongfully pushed her out of her Avondale apartment during the coronavirus pandemic and refused to return her security deposit.
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Rather than risk yet another confrontation with the Chicago Teachers Union, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez will follow the agreement they struck with CTU to end a dispute that canceled classes for five days last month.
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Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said city officials are following the same metrics they have been throughout the pandemic, but they might ease up a bit to avoid creating confusion when Illinois’ mask mandate ends Feb. 28.
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City officials last week said they’d follow the state’s lead in lifting a mask mandate by Feb. 28 — unless COVID-19 numbers worsened. Now, though citing “tremendous progress” against the Omicron surge, the mayor doesn’t want to set what she called an “artificial date.”
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Fraternal Order of Police President John Catanzara said the $240 increase in annual dues to fund the PAC will send a clear message, because police are under attack, and “we need to let these politicians know that enough is enough.”
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Masks won’t be required in grocery stores, restaurants and other gathering points, but they’ll still be required in hospitals, on mass transit and some other settings, including schools. The Chicago and Cook County public health departments indicated the city and suburbs would follow the state’s lead.
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While sources say the governor will wind down the mask mandate for the public at large, state officials are expected to continue waging the legal battle to keep masks on in schools, which Pritzker says present a different challenge in the fight to curb the spread of COVID-19.
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The Illinois Attorney General’s office has already filed an emergency stay aiming to pause the temporary restraining order suspending mask mandates.
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COVID hospitalizations have also seen a sharp drop, with the 3,135 beds occupied as of Thursday night marking a 31% decline from last week and a 57% decline from the all-time records set in mid-January.