Health & Safety

Health & Safety

Masks Are An Important Component To Fight COVID-19 Crisis, Fauci Says

8:06am July 21, 2020

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, about how to implement public health interventions that could turn the tide on the coronavirus pandemic.

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Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro waves to supporters from the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia on Monday, the same day that two more of his Cabinet ministers were diagnosed with COVID-19.

Brazil Tops 80,000 COVID-19 Deaths As 2 Government Ministers Test Positive For Virus

8:03am July 21, 2020

by Scott Neuman

The country's citizenship minister and education minister separately announced their diagnoses on social media the same day that the country announced a grim new milestone in the pandemic.

Health & Safety

Scientists Study How Much A Difference Wearing A Mask Makes

7:53am July 21, 2020

by Nurith Aizenman

How much could coronavirus infections be curbed through mandatory masking, better testing and tracing, and other measures short of a return to full lockdown? Here's what mathematical models tell us.

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Health & Safety

Developments Are Encouraging In Race To Find Coronavirus Vaccine

7:36am July 21, 2020

by Richard Harris

Vaccines being developed in China and Britain are showing promise according to the latest report from those labs. The vaccines stimulate an immune response and seem to have mild side effects.

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Teachers Sue To Block Florida's School Reopening Mandate

5:58am July 21, 2020

by Cory Turner

Educators in Florida, with the backing of the state's largest teachers union, sued the governor and other state officials for trying to require schools to reopen in the middle of a COVID-19 surge.

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News Brief: Trump Threatens Federal Crackdown, COVID-19, Florida Schools

5:44am July 21, 2020

President Trump threatens to deploy federal law enforcement to more U.S. cities. The race for COVID-19 vaccines shows promise. And, Florida teachers sue to stop school reopenings amid pandemic.

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An experimental vaccine candidate being developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University to protect against COVID-19 triggered an immune response against the coronavirus and appeared to be safe.

Early Oxford-AstraZeneca Coronavirus Vaccine Data 'Encouraging,' Scientists Say

6:02pm July 20, 2020

Testing in more than 1,000 people found the vaccine spurred an immune response and had no severe side effects. Larger trials are underway.

Health & Safety

Growing Body Of Evidence Suggests Masks Protect Those Wearing Them, Too

5:55pm July 20, 2020

NPR's Ailsa Chang talks with Dr. Monica Gandhi of the University of California, San Francisco, about growing evidence that masks help lower the severity of the coronavirus for those who wear them.

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North Carolina Couple Sews Transparent Masks To Help People With Hearing Loss

5:50pm July 20, 2020

by Yuki Noguchi

Face masks may be a public health essential, but they come with some social downsides. They can be especially challenging for people with hearing loss, and one couple has come up with a solution.

A health care worker talks to a patient in the emergency room at OakBend Medical Center in Richmond, Texas, on July 15.

Health & Safety

Texas Doctor Says Wave Of COVID-19 Cases Hit 'Like A Tsunami'

5:25pm July 20, 2020

by Rachel Martin

NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Dr. Jamil Madi of Valley Baptist Medical Center in Harlingen, Texas, about how the coronavirus case increases have affected his ICU in the Rio Grande Valley.

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