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.
Updated COVID vaccines, slated to hit shelves, could come with serious sticker shock for more than a million Georgians who don’t have health insurance.
Starting in late September, Americans will be able to order up to four free at-home COVID-19 tests that will be delivered to your mailbox. The tests will be able to detect newer variants of the virus.
Maybe you're COVID indifferent. Or a COVID amnesiac. Or a NOVID who wants to keep your no COVID streak going. With cases rising this summer, it's time for a refresher course on how to avoid the virus.
This week, the dating app Bumble could not stay out of the news. First, the company launched an anti-celibacy advertising campaign mocking abstinence and suggesting women shouldn't give up on dating apps. Then, at a tech summit, Bumble's founder suggested artificial intelligence might be the future of dating. Both efforts were met with backlash, and during a time when everyone seems irritated with dating - where can people turn? Shani Silver, author of the Cheaper Than Therapysubstack, and KCRW's Myisha Battle, dating coach and host of How's Your Sex Life? join the show to make sense of the mess.
Then, it's been four years since the start of the COVID pandemic. So much has changed - especially attitudes towards public health. Brittany talks to, Dr. Keisha S. Ray, a bioethicist, to hear how public health clashed with American culture - how we're supposed to live among people with different risk tolerance - and what all this means for the next pandemic.
A feasibility study underway will help decide the new model for the facility. Randolph County lost its only hospital in 2020 after decades in operation.
As the COVID pandemic faded in 2022, U.S. life expectancy rose by more than a year. But the virus and drug overdoses spurred by fentanyl still took nearly 300,000 lives.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Missouri, Louisiana and five individuals who were either banned from social media during the pandemic or whose posts, they say, were not prominently featured.
"Long COVID has affected every part of my life," said Virginia resident Rachel Beale said at a recent Senate hearing. "I wake up every day feeling tired, nauseous and dizzy. I immediately start planning when I can lay down again." Beale is far from alone. Many of her experiences have been echoed by others dealing with long COVID. It's a constellation of debilitating symptoms that range from brain fog and intense physical fatigue to depression and anxiety. But there's new, promising research that sheds light onto some symptoms. NPR health correspondent Will Stone talks with Short Wave host Regina G. Barber about the state of long COVID research — what we know, what we don't and when we can expect treatments or even cures for it. Have more COVID questions you want us to cover? Email us at shortwave@npr.org — we'd love to hear from you.
