Category: International

There’s a cost to staying home, too. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a neuroscientist and social psychologist at Brigham Young University, explains the toll that social isolation can take.

It’s been exactly three months since President Trump issued the first national guidelines for social distancing, including pausing nursing home visitors.

NPR’s Ashley Westerman recently checked in on her 100-year-old grandfather. Paul Westerman’s wife of 76 years is in hospice care. He’s alone, except for the nurses in his veteran’s home.

Plus NPR’s Chris Arnold checks in on a Boston hair stylist going back to work.

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Email the show at coronavirusdaily@npr.org.

Nationwide, numbers were never trending downward in any big way. Now in some states that are reopening, they are going up. Oregon and Arizona are two of those places. Each state is taking a different approach.

Testing is more available than ever before. Some cities are urging people who don’t feel sick to get a test, just as a precaution. But WPLN’s Blake Farmer reports some insurance companies won’t pay for the cost of a test unless it’s “medically necessary.”

Due to the pandemic, a lot of states are making it easier to vote by mail. NPR’s Miles Parks says this new process could mean waiting a lot longer for elections results come November.

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All week we’ve been hearing about rising cases in states around the country. The stock market reacted on Thursday, in part after Federal Reserve officials predicted the unemployment rate will still be above 9% at the end of the year.

There’s a lot we don’t know about the White House’s public-private partnership to develop a vaccine, Operation Warp Speed. NPR’s Sydney Lupkin reports on a winnowing field of vaccine candidates.

And during a pandemic, the most vulnerable newborns require even more protection.

Plus, NPR’s Maria Godoy shares tips to minimize the risks of COVID-19 for yourself and others if you’ve been out protesting.

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Many states that reopened a few weeks ago are seeing spikes in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. In Arizona, officials say if cases continue to rise, they may have to be more aggressive about enforcing reopening protocols for businesses.

In major cities across Texas there are disparities in access to COVID-19 testing, resulting in less testing in black neighborhoods than white neighborhoods.

Dr. Atul Gawande spoke with NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly about why face masks remain essential in dealing with the coronavirus and the efficacy of different masks.

To help with shortages of PPE, one volunteer group has used 3D printers at home to make nearly 40,000 NIH-approved face shields for health care workers and first responders.

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The numbers aren’t really changing. 20,000 new cases a day, and more than 800 dead. Experts warn that by fall, in America, the death count could rise to 200,000.

Some members of the National Guard who were sent to Washington D.C. during the protests over the death of George Floyd have tested positive for the coronavirus. Dr. Anthony Fauci is concerned — but not surprised.

Many nursing homes banned all visitors and nonessential workers from their facilities to stop the spread of COVID-19. Some advocates and families say they want that ban to end.

A big unanswered question is whether it will be safe for public K-12 schools to reopen safely in the fall. The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on the topic Wednesday.

Plus, the Mall of America reopened after nearly three months.

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George Floyd’s killing by police sparked protests around the world. Because of the coronavirus, attendance at Floyd’s Houston funeral was limited and mourners were encouraged to wear masks.

People of color have been hit hard by the coronavirus because of risk factors including chronic health conditions and less access to health care. Experts say scientists need better data on who’s getting sick and public health officials need to communicate better with communities of color.

A top official from the World Health Organization walked back a statement Monday in which she said transmission from asymptomatic carriers of the virus is “very rare.”

A small but growing number of kids have a dangerous reaction to coronavirus called multi-inflammatory syndrome, which can cause inflamed hearts, lungs and other organs.

Plus, one man built an art piece he calls a ‘Doorway To Imagination’ in his social distancing-created free time.

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After a nearly three-month lockdown and over 20,000 coronavirus-related deaths, New York City is taking its first steps to reopen parts of its economy amid protests over police brutality.

The coronavirus is surviving the heat and humidity despite initial hopes it would not last through the summer. Experts now think the coronavirus will be here for years to come.

Sweden’s government implemented limited restrictions in an attempt to protect the country’s economy during the pandemic. Now, they’re seeing mixed results.

And for the first time in months, the massive Vatican Museums are open.

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It looks like another weekend of protests across the country. And that means more people could be exposed to tear gas, pepper spray and other “chemical irritants” that trigger — among other things — coughing and sneezing. Two things people are trying to avoid during this pandemic.

Americans are skipping payments on mortgages, auto loans and other bills due to the economic impact of the pandemic. And as NPR’s Chris Arnold reports, for some, catching up is going to be painful.

Plus, the coronavirus has hit people of color especially hard. As Harvard’s David Williams writes in an article for the Washington Post, before COVID-19, Black Americans were already struggling with the health effects of everyday discrimination. The pandemic is only making it worse.

And NPR’s Short Wave team takes us to San Francisco where Hispanics and Latinxs make up 46% of all coronavirus cases ⁠— but they make up just 15% of the population.

Don’t forget to check out Short Wave on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and NPR One.

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It’s been 96 days since the first person in America was reported to have died of COVID-19. And for the first time, the federal government will require states to keep track of who’s getting sick and who’s dying based on their age, sex, and race and ethnicity.

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Around the world, 10 vaccine candidates have begun human trials.

COVID-19 has killed nearly 110,000 people in America. And black Americans are dying at nearly two and half times the rate of white Americans. As NPR’s Stacey Vanek Smith and Greg Rosalsky report on the economic reasons why.

Plus, WAMU reporter Jacob Fenston reports on 85-year-old Margaret Sullivan, who feels like she’s been “living in a bubble” since the start of the pandemic.

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Eight states and the District of Columbia went to the polls Tuesday. More mail-in ballots and fewer in-person polling places caused long delays in some places, highlighting the challenges for the November elections.

KUT’s Ashley Lopez reports, since naturalization ceremonies have been halted due to the pandemic, thousands who were due to become U.S. citizens over the last few weeks are now in limbo.

Public health workers are encountering resistance, online harassment and even violent threats as they conduct contact tracing and other containment strategies in their local communities. NPR’s Will Stone has more.

Plus, a visit to the Six Feet Away Museum in Jacksonville, Florida, and an update on a coronavirus vaccine.

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