Global Health

In 2017, technicians lift the mirror assembly of the James Webb Space Telescope using a crane inside a clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

Health & Safety

NASA Pushes Back Launch Date On Webb Space Telescope, Citing COVID-19

8:17am July 17, 2020

by Scott Neuman

The launch of the $10 billion spacecraft, which scientists hope will see back to the time when the first galaxies were formed, has been rescheduled for Oct. 31, 2021.

Coronavirus Around The World: How Countries Are Coping With COVID-19 Surges

6:49am July 17, 2020

A look around the globe shows other countries - Brazil, South Africa, Iraq - are in turmoil as the relentless coronavirus pandemic takes its toll.

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A medical worker collects nasal swab samples this week during a mass test for the coronavirus at North Sumatra University in Medan, Indonesia. The mass test was held after the rector of the university, one of his deputies and a member of the board of trus

Indonesia Stumbles As Coronavirus Cases Surge

9:23pm July 16, 2020

by Michael Sullivan

The archipelago nation has been hit by the virus far more than any other country in Southeast Asia. Epidemiologists cite government failures.

Intelligence Agencies Warn Russian Hackers Are Targeting Coronavirus Vaccine Research

4:14pm July 16, 2020

by Greg Myre

U.S., British and Canadian intelligence agencies are reporting that Russian hackers are trying to steal information from health care organizations working on a potential coronavirus vaccine.

Morris Koll, grandfather of NPR correspondent Pam Fessler's husband, enlisted in the U.S. Army and was sent to the Philippines in 1902. That's when he contracted leprosy. In 1935, public health authorities took him to the national leprosarium in Carville,

A Family Secret Inspired A New Book About Leprosy

2:23pm July 16, 2020

by Diane Cole

NPR correspondent Pam Fessler, author of Carville's Cure: Leprosy, Stigma, and the Fight for Justice, talks about her research into this once feared disease — and its connection to COVID-19.

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People in Melbourne, Australia, wear face masks on Thursday. Victoria has recorded 317 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, the highest daily total recorded in the state since the pandemic began.

Melbourne, On COVID-19 Lockdown, Reports Record Case Count

1:45pm July 16, 2020

by Scott Neuman

Health officials in Australia's second-largest city said 317 new cases had been reported more than a week after a "hard boundary" around the city closed it off.

Indian paramilitary soldiers carry the body of a paramilitary officer who died of COVID-19 to a crematorium in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir, on Tuesday. India is the third-ranked nation in the number of reported infections.

India Sets Record For Its Daily Coronavirus Count

8:01am July 16, 2020

by Lauren Frayer

Despite one the world's earliest and most restrictive lockdowns, India's numbers continue to soar, exceeded only by the United States and Brazil.

A dirt road cuts through a sprawling Doctors Without Borders camp in South Sudan. In a letter, 1,000 current and former employees are accusing the aid group of racism and white supremacy.

Health & Safety

Doctors Without Borders Responds To Charges Of 'Racism' From Its Staff

7:30pm July 15, 2020

by Nurith Aizenman

The concerns range from condescending attitudes toward people of color to inequities of pay between international and local workers. The aid group's leaders have pledged to address the issues.

A robot introduces itself to patients in Kigali, Rwanda. The robots, used in Rwanda's treatment centers, can screen people for COVID-19 and deliver food and medication, among other tasks. The robots were donated by the United Nations Development Program a

Health & Safety

A COVID-19 Success Story In Rwanda: Free Testing, Robot Caregivers

11:26am July 15, 2020

by Jason Beaubien

Despite its limited resources, Rwanda has vowed to identify every case. So you could be walking down the street and a health worker will ask if you want to be tested.

Pictured in 2019, Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki on Tuesday questioned U.S. measures to stop the coronavirus from spreading on the island.

Coronavirus Surge For U.S. Military On Okinawa Adds To Soured Relations There

6:09pm July 14, 2020

by David Welna

One hundred newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 among U.S. forces on the small island that hosts about half the Americans stationed in Japan are further testing tense ties with Okinawa.