5 ways the pandemic changed us for good, for bad and forever
This month marks five years since the pandemic began, and here are 5 things that changed permanently.
COVID
How Alabama students went from last place to rising stars in math
Alabama is the only state where 4th-grade math scores are higher now than they were in 2019, before the pandemic. This is the story of how the state pulled it off.
How the pandemic changed the world of disease control for worse -- and for better
Five years after the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, there has been progress — and backsliding in the way the world responds to infectious disease.
5 years since the pandemic started, long COVID patients are still hoping for a cure
They're pushing for more funding to find effective treatments. Researchers are finally starting to make headway but have a way to go.
In their own words: How COVID changed America
The COVID-19 lockdown "felt like solitary confinement," a San Diego resident tells NPR. Even after many pandemic rules lifted, American society remains deeply fractured.
5 years after COVID closed theaters, movies are still struggling to climb back
The pandemic decimated the box office and the reshaped the moviegoing experience. NPR's movie critic, Bob Mondello, looks back on how his job changed during the early months of COVID-19.
Flu cases rise again, while COVID takes a back seat
It's an unusual winter for respiratory illnesses. The flu is peaking twice: once in early January and again in February. Meanwhile, it's the mildest COVID winter since the pandemic began.
Winter illnesses return with a vengeance
The annual winter respiratory virus season is in full force. The number of people catching the flu is skyrocketing, while COVID-19, RSV and other respiratory viral illnesses are also rising.
Nursing aides plagued by PTSD after ‘nightmare’ COVID conditions, with little help
Nursing aides feel abandoned as they grapple with mental and physical troubles that stem from their work during the COVID outbreak.
New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger. It's controversial
With genetic samples from the infamous Wuhan market, a new study makes the case that raccoon dogs are likely the animal that infected humans. Proponents of the lab leak theory are dubious.