Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Swab Manufacturer Works To Meet 'Overwhelming' Demand

6:28pm April 01, 2020

by Ailsa Chang

Maine-based Puritan Medical Products is one of only two companies that manufacture the type of swabs needed to test for the coronavirus. As testing ramps up, a huge demand has only grown.

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Coronavirus Overwhelms Georgia Hospital: Patients Flood In As Staff Weathers Exposure

6:19pm April 01, 2020

by Steve Inskeep

A severe outbreak in Dougherty County is taxing the biggest hospital in Albany, Ga., a small inland community of 73,000.

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5 Key Facts Not Explained In White House COVID-19 Projections

5:40pm April 01, 2020

by Nurith Aizenman

The Trump administration's strategy for ending the current wave of coronavirus infections relies on a model that appears to count on several important assumptions. We look at why that matters.

A worker cleans an area along the Las Vegas Strip that's now devoid of the usual crowds, with casinos and many other business shuttered.

Fighting COVID-19 Is Like 'Whack-A-Mole,' Says Writer Who Warned Of A Pandemic

5:26pm April 01, 2020

by Terry Gross

Atlantic writer Ed Yong warned of a global pandemic two years ago. He says scientists are still working to understand how COVID-19 travels through air — and whether more of us should be wearing masks.

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A box of Zantac tablets sits at a pharmacy in Miami Beach, Fla. On Wednesday, U.S. health regulators ordered that the popular heartburn drug be pulled from the market.

FDA Says Zantac Should Be Pulled From Market, Citing Cancer Risk

5:24pm April 01, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

Major pharmacies had already pulled the popular heartburn drug and its generic equivalents due to a contaminant. Now the Food and Drug Administration says definitively they should not be sold or used.

Health & Safety

How To Safely Get Takeout In The Coronavirus Era

5:18pm April 01, 2020

With most restaurants around the U.S. closed to dining in due to the coronavirus outbreak, some have pivoted to takeout and delivery. Here's how to minimize risk of viral transmission while doing so.

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Coronavirus Updates: Congress Considers More Action, Scientists React

5:17pm April 01, 2020

NPR science and White House correspondents relay the latest in the United States response to the coronavirus epidemic.

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Police officers walk across an empty Red Square in Moscow on Tuesday, as the Russian capital goes into lockdown to stem the spread of the new coronavirus.

Moscow To Launch New Surveillance App To Track Residents In Coronavirus Lockdown

5:07pm April 01, 2020

by Charles Maynes

Muscovites will have their movements followed through a program required on their smartphones. They will also have to carry a new QR code with their personal data.

Peace Corps volunteer Adam Greenberg worked to develop fish farming in Zambia. He took this selfie on March 23, en route to San Diego, the final destination of his evacuation.

Health & Safety

Coronavirus Sent Peace Corps Volunteers Home. It Could Also Give Them A New Mission

4:57pm April 01, 2020

by Elena Renken

Some 7,000 volunteers were evacuated in an unprecedented callback. Back home and jobless, they're in limbo — but there's a proposal to enlist them in the fight against COVID-19.

A soldier walks past the Pantheon monument in central Rome on April 1, as Italy extends its lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 disease. The country has more than 110,000 coronavirus cases.

Italy, Seen By White House As A U.S. Analogue, Extends Nationwide Lockdown

4:54pm April 01, 2020

by Bill Chappell

The White House coronavirus task force calls Italy an example of how the coronavirus could play out in the U.S. The European country's death toll is rising, despite a recent slowdown in cases.