Health & Safety

News brief: battle for eastern Ukraine, travel mask mandate, China's COVID lockdown

7:34am April 19, 2022

Ukraine's president says the Russian offensive in the east has begun. A federal judge has struck down the transportation mask mandate. Dozens of Chinese cities are in some kind of COVID lockdown.

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Mark Marston slides a higher-quality air filter back into an upgraded HVAC system in Portland, Maine. The new system can bring in about 30% more outside air.

Health & Safety

Better ventilation would create a healthier workplace — but companies have to invest

5:24am April 19, 2022

by Liz Szabo

The research is clear that air exchange and filtration curb the spread of COVID and other diseases, but upgrading systems is expensive, and there is little federal authority over indoor air quality.

Health & Safety

Encore: Concussions don't necessarily hurt your ears, but they can hurt your hearing

5:20am April 19, 2022

by Jon Hamilton

People who sustain a concussion can develop an unusual hearing problem. Their ears work fine, but their brain struggles to process sounds. (Story first aired on All Things Considered on Nov. 3, 2021.)

A combine harvests wheat, near Pullman, Wash. Preventing food insecurity globally amid skyrocketing prices driven by the war in Ukraine will be the main topic at the IMF and World Bank Spring Meetings.

Global finance meeting focuses on war-driven food insecurity

1:25am April 19, 2022

by The Associated Press

Russia and Ukraine produce roughly 14% of the world's wheat supply, according to the United Nations, and the war has resulted in soaring food prices and fears about food security globally.

A sign advises people to wear a mask and stand six feet apart as travelers make their way through Miami International Airport in December 2021 in Miami. A federal judge in Florida has ruled that the federal mask mandate on planes, trains, buses and other

TSA will no longer enforce travel mask mandate after a federal judge strikes it down

7:00pm April 18, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The mask-wearing requirement had been initially imposed in early 2021, shortly after President Joe Biden took office.

Volunteers unload food aid in Chena, Ethiopia, one of many parts of the world where conflict has fueled hunger.

Ukraine crisis raises question: Does food aid go equally to 'Black and white lives'?

5:52pm April 18, 2022

by Nurith Aizenman

That's what Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of the World Health Organization and others ask in the wake of the outpouring of money to help Ukrainian victims of the war amid record levels of global hunger.

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John Moe is a writer and host of the podcast Depresh Mode with John Moe.

Health & Safety

John's colleague told him he didn't belong. It was just what he needed to hear

2:30pm April 18, 2022

by Laura Kwerel

John Moe found himself working full-time in customer service at a software company. But a conversation with an HR representative helped reshape his future.

Health & Safety

HIV experts provide lessons for mitigating COVID

7:20am April 18, 2022

by Selena Simmons-Duffin

Federal officials have a favorite refrain about COVID-19: "We have the tools." There's just one problem: As those who have worked to end HIV for decades know, just having the tools is not enough.

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Health & Safety

Why Philadelphia is bringing back its mask mandate

5:05am April 18, 2022

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Dr. Leana Wen about Philadelphia's decision to reinstate a citywide mask mandate > in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a medical worker disinfects another after taking samples for COVID-19 tests in a residential area in Shanghai, China, Saturday, April 16.

Shanghai reports 1st deaths from current COVID-19 outbreak

3:04am April 18, 2022

by The Associated Press

Authorities reported the first COVID-19 deaths of the latest outbreak in China's most populous city and said all three were elderly, had underlying conditions and had not been vaccinated.