Gov. J.B. Pritzker provides an update on the coronavirus in Illinois on Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (WTTW News)
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COVID-19 in Illinois: 12,601 New Cases, 97 Additional Deaths

Facing “exponential growth” in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, Illinois will soon begin operating under tighter restrictions designed to stop the spread of the virus — and avoid another stay-at-home order, the governor said.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker speaks Monday, Nov. 16, 2020 during his daily COVID-19 briefing. (WTTW News)
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COVID-19 in Illinois: 11,632 New Cases, 37 Additional Deaths

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.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker delivers his daily press briefing on the coronavirus on Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020. (WTTW News)
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Public health officials reported a record number of new COVID-19 cases in Illinois on Tuesday. As the number of cases goes up, so too does the number of people hospitalized with the virus. 

(WTTW News)

Planning to visit a patient in the hospital? Check first.

Like everything else in the era of COVID-19, visiting a friend or family member in the hospital has changed. Here’s what you can expect.

UIC hospital workers strike on Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. (WTTW News)

They’ve been on the front lines in the fight against COVID-19. Now they’re on the picket lines. Why University of Illinois and UIC health care workers, including about 800 nurses, are on strike.

Nurses strike outside the University of Illinois Hospital on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, the first day of a planned seven-day strike. (Alma Campos / WTTW News)

Hundreds of nurses at the University of Illinois Hospital took to the picket line Saturday for a weeklong strike amid contract negotiations between their union, the Illinois Nurses Association, and the hospital system.

Mercy Hospital (WTTW News)

Mercy Hospital announced plans to shut its doors by June 2021. Now, concerns of a health care desert on the South Side are resurfacing as residents prepare to find new providers.

Employees of the Dr. Lucy Lang-Chappell Housing Complex in Chicago wear face shields provided by the “Noble Army.” (Courtesy of Rob and Susan Parks)

Personal protective gear is often in short supply, but a group of people in the Chicago area have made a serious dent in that shortage. And, as we found out, they were inspired by “Chicago Tonight.”

(WTTW News)
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Hospitals are on the front lines of healing gun violence victims, but some are taking more than just an emergency room role. We learn about the Chicago Hospital Engagement, Action and Leadership Initiative, or HEAL.

(WTTW News)
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A group of South Side hospital leaders are dropping a planned joint medical system after the state failed to come through with funding. What happened — and what it means for South Side residents.

Bill Phan, left, and Kevin Yoo of Initiative 77(3)12. (Courtesy of Phan and Yoo)

Through a nonprofit effort dubbed Initiative 77(3)12, friends Bill Phan and Kevin Yoo are feeding hundreds of health care workers each week across Chicago – and they hope to keep it going as long as the need continues.

(WTTW News)

The state’s stay-at-home order is still in effect. Restaurants are still closed — and so is the lakefront path. Illinois hospitals are once again welcoming non-coronavirus patients — and the revenue they bring.

Swedish Hospital in Chicago (WTTW News)

The global economic shutdown has impacted industries across the board, but hospital supply chains have been hit especially hard — and months into the pandemic, it remains a day-to-day challenge.

(WTTW News)

Chicago’s Roseland Community Hospital has been on the front lines of the pandemic. But it wasn’t included in Illinois’ recent distribution of remdesivir, a move that’s angered hospital officials.

Remdesivir (WTTW News via CNN)
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A select group of Illinois hospitals can now treat patients with the only drug so far authorized by the FDA as a treatment for COVID-19. Now the question is: Exactly who will get remdesivir?

In this March 2020 photo provided by Gilead Sciences, rubber stoppers are placed onto filled vials of the investigational drug remdesivir at a Gilead manufacturing site in the United States. (Gilead Sciences via AP)

The only drug given emergency authorization by the Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with the coronavirus has arrived in Illinois. But there’s not enough to go around – in Illinois or elsewhere.