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How Has COVID-19 Impacted Chicago Public Library Visits?

According to City of Chicago data, 3.6 million total visits to CPL branches were recorded throughout 2021, less than half of 2019, the year before the pandemic.


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How Wastewater is Used to Monitor City’s COVID-19 Response

The Chicago Department of Public Health had successfully shown strong correlations between wastewater surveillance data and the surge of Omicron variant.


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CTA Ridership Picking up After Dropping During Pandemic

After two years of decreasing ridership with the pandemic, the CTA is starting to see its numbers rise again as the city opens up more and COVD-19 cases drop.


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COVID-19: With Mandates Ending, What Does the Future Hold?

As Chicago and other US cities return to normalcy, there are uncertainties about a potential increase in cases due to the lack of mandates. This has already happened in New Zealand.


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COVID-19: Chicago Small Businesses Moving Forward After Omicron

After surviving several surges from COVID-19 variants, Chicago restaurants and other small businesses are finding their footing again.


COVID-19 in Illinois: State Ranks 6th in Vaccinations Given

Data: 62.7% of Chicago’s population has been fully vaccinated as of Dec. 9, 3.5 percentage points higher than the fully-vaccinated state population.


COVID-19 in Greektown: More Businesses In Jeopardy

In the city of Chicago alone, 18.8% of restaurants have had to shut their doors for good since the onset of COVID-19. The pandemic has hit Greektown particularly hard.


Entrance into Chicago’s Chinatown. (Photo by BinBin Spratt)

COVID-19’s Impact on Chicago’s Chinatown Community

Asians, who make up 90% of Chinatown residents, have seen their community be stricken by financial loss, racism and hate speech, displacement and a loss of representation during the pandemic.


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COVID-19: Illinois Ranks 4th Nationally in Total Cases

While Illinois ranks fourth nationally for total COVID-19 cases, the ranking drops significantly when the population is figured in (31st).


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Saturday Night Football During COVID-19: Less Beer, More Masks

As COVID-19 shut down some campuses as others stayed open, the Big Ten Conference struggled with how to field a football season. In the end, nobody was happy.