World Health Organization

A medical worker takes a look outside a preliminary testing facility at the National Medical Center in Seoul, South Korea, where people suspected of having contracted the novel strain of coronavirus are being tested.

Coronavirus Cases Triple In South Korea; WHO Keeps Eye On Africa, Iran

2:43pm February 22, 2020

by Colin Dwyer

The tally of new cases is declining in China, the heart of the outbreak. But rising numbers beyond its borders have officials worried, including for regions that have scarcely seen the virus so far.

Checking for signs of COVID-19, a medical worker in a protective suit checks the temperatures of people who were on board the Diamond Princess cruise ship as they fly on a chartered evacuation plane from Japan to Lackland Air Force Base in Texas.

Coronavirus Update: 346 Americans Emerge From Quarantine At California Military Bases

3:36pm February 18, 2020

by Bill Chappell

"It is important to know that these people being released from quarantine pose no health risk to the surrounding community," a CDC press officer said in a statement to NPR.

Workers disinfect closed shop lots following the coronavirus outbreak in Hubei, China, on Monday. Officials reported on Tuesday that the country's overall death toll had passed 1,000.

China Reports Total Of More Than 1,000 Deaths In The Country From Coronavirus

8:07pm February 10, 2020

by Scott Neuman

The Tuesday figures come as the head of the World Health Organization warns that a few cases of 2019-nCoV that have been spread by people who never traveled to China could be "the tip of the iceberg."

Coronavirus Presents First Test Of New Rules For Naming A Disease

8:03am February 08, 2020

by Brett Dahlberg

To avoid giving offense or creating stigma, the WHO guidelines recommend against naming new pathogens — the emerging coronavirus, for instance — after people, places, ethnic groups, animals or foods.

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In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, medical workers in protective suits help transfer the first group of patients into the newly completed Huoshenshan temporary field hospital in Wuhan in central China's Hubei province.

Health & Safety

In Quarantined Wuhan, Hospital Beds For Coronavirus Patients Are Scarce

7:20pm February 05, 2020

Admission to a hospital requires a diagnosis of coronavirus. But screening kits are in short supply and hospitals are short of beds.

There are now nearly 10,000 cases of coronavirus — far more than the reported number of SARS cases worldwide during a 2003 outbreak.

U.S. Warns Americans 'Do Not Travel To China' As Coronavirus Infections Surpass SARS

7:27pm January 31, 2020

by Bill Chappell

There are now nearly 12,000 cases of coronavirus — far more than the reported number of SARS cases worldwide during a 2003 outbreak.

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A worker in a protective suit uses a large fogger to disinfect outdoor areas in a village in Qingdao, Shandong province, as the deadly new coronavirus continues to spread in China.

Coronavirus Has Now Spread To All Regions Of Mainland China

10:02pm January 30, 2020

by Bill Chappell

A coronavirus expert tells NPR the outbreak is only getting started and the global spread will get worse — including in the U.S.

Staff in biohazard suits hold a metal stretcher on Tuesday by the inpatient department of Wuhan Medical Treatment Center, where some people infected with a novel coronavirus are being treated in China.

1st Case Of New Coronavirus Detected In U.S.

3:42pm January 21, 2020

by Merrit Kennedy

The individual had returned to his home in Washington state after a visit to Wuhan, China, where the virus was discovered in December.

After Deadly Attacks On Ebola Responders, WHO Watches Congo Outbreak From Outside

5:10am November 29, 2019

by Steve Inskeep

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with Dr. Margaret Harris, a World Health Organization spokesperson in the Democratic Republic of Congo, about attacks in the country against health workers combating Ebola.

A World Health Organization medic prepares a vaccination dose for a front-line aid worker earlier this year in the small town of Mangina, Democratic Republic of Congo. Four Ebola response workers were killed and six others injured in two attacks overnight

'It Was Unmistakably A Directed Attack': 4 Ebola Workers Killed In Congo

2:26pm November 28, 2019

by Colin Dwyer

The two overnight assaults on Ebola response teams also injured at least six people, according to the World Health Organization. The attacks come at a pivotal time for the fight against the disease.