Every time you poop, you’re helping Chicago health officials track COVID
People shed the virus through their nose and mouth and in their poop! The city is using sewage data to help keep tabs on transmission.
Environment & Public Health
Waste, sustainability, climate change and environmental justice. WBEZ covers our surroundings and the way we coexist with them.
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Diesel pollution in Chicago is hurting people’s health and the environment
Chicago ranks third in the nation in deaths and health costs related to diesel pollution, according to a new analysis.
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Minnesota Attorney General sues Illinois-based COVID testing site
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison alleges that the Center for COVID Control defrauded the government by giving false results or no results at all.
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Chicago’s Tik Tok epidemiologist fights COVID misinformation during omicron surge
We check back in with UIC epidemiologist Katrine Wallace. She’s combatting COVID-19 misinformation one TikTok at a time.
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Chicago’s ban on single-use plastics now in effect
The new law applies to delivery and takeout orders, not dine-in.
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Booster longevity: Data reveals how long a third shot protects
Now researchers in the U.K. have the first estimates for how long a third shot of the Pfizer vaccine will last. The findings are mixed.
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The Postal Service is now taking orders for free COVID-19 test kits
The at-home tests are expected to be delivered by USPS later this month. The White House said the site is in “beta testing” and will be launched formally Wednesday.
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There’s a national blood shortage, but it’s a problem that can be solved
The American Red Cross says it’s facing its worst blood shortage in more than a decade.
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Little Calumet River makes the New York Times’ list of ‘Places for a Changed World’
One of the Chicago area’s best-kept secrets has made it out into the world thanks to the New York Times’ list of 52 “Places for a Changed World.”
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Data show Black Chicagoans, suburbanites over 60 dying disproportionately during Omicron surge
New numbers also show unvaccinated Illinois residents are dying at 22 times the rate of vaccinated residents.
