Global Health

China Leads The Worldwide Race To Develop A COVID-19 Vaccine

3:45pm May 19, 2020

by John Ruwitch

China is leading the global race in the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Half of the vaccines that have already gone into clinical trials were discovered by Chinese companies.

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Are There Zombie Viruses — Like The 1918 Flu — Thawing In The Permafrost?

10:33am May 19, 2020

by Michaeleen Doucleff

As if the pandemic weren't enough, people are wondering whether climate change will cause pathogens buried in frozen ground to come back to life as the Arctic warms. How worried should we be?

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Map of ozone changes across the country.

Traffic Is Way Down Because Of Lockdown, But Air Pollution? Not So Much

10:27am May 19, 2020

Car traffic took a big dip beginning in late March, and headlines celebrated clean air around the U.S. But an NPR analysis of EPA data tells a more troubling story.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks at a news conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., on April 29. Pompeo criticized the World Health Organization on Monday for not inviting Taiwan to its assembly.

Pompeo Blasts WHO And China For Excluding Taiwan From This Week's Health Assembly

9:42pm May 18, 2020

by John Ruwitch

By not inviting Taiwan to its health assembly, the World Health Organization kept out "scientific expertise on pandemic disease" and "damaged the WHO's credibility," the secretary of state said.

Dr. Max Lazarus, a medical resident at a hospital on Long Island, N.Y., is one of some 130,000 medical residents in the U.S., many of whom have found themselves on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health & Safety

Doctors In Training Learn Hard Lessons During The Pandemic

9:13pm May 18, 2020

by Will Stone

There are some 130,000 medical residents in the U.S., and many are pulling long shifts in emergency departments and ICUs treating patients infected with the coronavirus.

Health & Safety

World-Wide Travel Restrictions Violate International Health Regulations

5:30pm May 18, 2020

by Geoff Brumfiel

Countries around the world have imposed various travel bans to fight the pandemic. But those restrictions are contradicting international health regulations and might not be viable long-term.

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A view of Moderna headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., earlier this month. Moderna is touting preliminary data from an initial coronavirus vaccine trial.

New Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate Shows Promise In Early, Limited Trial

3:44pm May 18, 2020

by Joe Palca

Cambridge, Mass.-based Moderna, Inc., is reporting preliminary data suggesting its COVID-19 vaccine is safe, and appears to be triggering an immune response in test subjects.

A patient arrives to pick up medication for opioid addiction and is given hand sanitizer at a clinic in Olympia, Wash. The pandemic is changing the distribution networks and supplies of street drugs across the United States, authorities say.

Health & Safety

Changes In Opioid Supply Create New Risks As Stay-At-Home Rules Ease

2:23pm May 18, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

The disruption in the illegal opioid trade had varying impacts around the country. As stay-at-home orders lift, that creates different risks of overdose that public health is trying to manage.

German police detain a demonstrator during a protest against the government's restrictions to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in front of the Reichstag in Berlin on Saturday.

Germans Protest Shutdown Even After Easing Of Coronavirus Restrictions

12:04pm May 18, 2020

by Rob Schmitz

Protesters — including citizens against restrictions, extremists and anti-vaccination groups — have taken to the streets in cities across Germany.

"China supports the idea of a comprehensive review of the global response to COVID-19, after it is brought under control," says President Xi Jinping, seen here with President Trump last summer.

Xi Defends China's COVID-19 Actions, Backs 'Impartial' Review Of Pandemic Response

11:38am May 18, 2020

by Bill Chappell

President Xi Jinping did not specifically refer to any of President Trump's criticisms. But he said the pandemic has exposed "weaknesses and deficiencies" in the global health system.

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