Illinois

Officials on Friday reported 3,137 new known cases of COVID-19, the highest daily total since the outbreak began, as well as an additional 105 deaths. That brings the statewide total to 56,055 known cases, as well as a death toll totaling 2,457. The numbers came as Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s modified stay-at-home order took effect…

Resistance to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s extension of his statewide stay-at-home order grew Thursday, with a church in northwest Illinois filing a federal lawsuit contending that Pritzker’s executive actions have demonstrated “illegal and discriminatory hostility to religious practice, churches, and people of faith.” The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Beloved Church, a roughly 80-person…

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says nonmedical cloth facial coverings, for the public, help prevent the spread of the coronavirus and help people who may have the virus and are asymptomatic from transmitting it to others. N95 masks, which are in short supply, are best reserved for health care workers, who come…

The Illinois attorney general’s office filed an appellate court brief Wednesday seeking to overturn a southern Illinois judge’s ruling that temporarily exempts a Republican state representative from Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s statewide stay-at-home order. State Rep. Darren Bailey request for a personal exemption from the order “besides being dangerous — is flawed as a matter of…

Protesters who want Gov. J.B. Pritzker to announce a plan to reopen the Illinois economy have scheduled a Friday rally outside the Thompson Center in the Loop. “Illinois residents have tolerated the government’s plan for over a month — without a plan on how to slowly and safely reopen the state’s economy,” a news release…