Prognosis: Misconception

President Donald Trump expanded access to a coronavirus treatment that involves blood plasma donated by people who’ve recovered from Covid-19. But while convalescent plasma, as it’s known, is a promising therapy, researchers don’t yet fully understand how well it works. Michelle Fay Cortez explains what the announcement means, and the concerns that agencies like the FDA are letting pressure from t...

One thing the pandemic seems to have rendered obsolete, at least for now, is mass tourism. Beach towns lined with hotels that boast hundreds of rooms are struggling in a socially distanced age. Jeannette Neumann reports one tourist hotspot in Spain that once drew throngs of young people is trying to reinvent itself for a future of tightly controlled and intimate trips. See omnystudio.com/listener...

Before the novel coronavirus, the world was focused on another killer respiratory virus: influenza. The flu kills hundreds of thousands of people globally each year. The Covid-19 pandemic hit the U.S. after flu cases had peaked. But with the next flu season only a couple of months away, doctors are worried that a flu epidemic on top of a Covid pandemic could stretch medical resources to the breaki...

About a dozen student athletes have experienced heart inflammation after being diagnosed with the disease. The NCAA’s chief medical officer discussed the cases of myocarditis, a heart condition that can cause sudden death in young athletes, at a briefing last week. His remarks came two days after the Big Ten and Pac-12 announced they would postpone fall sports. Angelica LaVito reports that the new...

In the fight against COVID-19, so many are pinning their hopes on a vaccine. But how long will it take? Russia’s super-fast-tracked COVID-19 one is technically the first in the world. But the first vaccine may not be the best one. And even with other vaccine trials underway around the globe, it would be wrong to think we can resume normal life as soon as we have one. Bloomberg healthcare reporter...

In the rush to develop a vaccine or treatment for Covid-19, drug companies are fast-tracking clinical trials. But those trials have a major diversity problem. Participants in major drug trials range from 70 percent to 89 percent white. This is a big problem, considering it’s a disease that disproportionately affects people of color. Kristen V. Brown reports that failing to account for minority gro...

Arne Duncan, the former US secretary of education, recently warned a House panel against opening schools prematurely. He’s one of a growing chorus of voices sounding the alarm about opening schools without properly funding safety measures. The schools, they say, simply don’t have the money they need to make their buildings safe for students and teachers. At that same house panel, witnesses said pu...

The coronavirus has been spreading worldwide for over seven months now, and more than 18 million people are known to have been infected by it. Over that time, we’ve come to understand that, in most people, the virus causes mild symptoms or none at all -- at least at the time they have the virus. But even asymptomatic patients may suffer lingering effects. Jason Gale reports that it may contribute...

Earlier this year, school gates around the world slammed shut. The drastic measure worked in many places. Now, as fall approaches, attention is turning back to a pillar of a pandemic-resilient society: schools. The role of children in driving transmission of the coronavirus isn’t clear, and what we know about past respiratory infections isn’t a lot of help. But, as Bloomberg senior editor Jason Ga...

The drug company Eli Lilly is about to start testing its Covid-19 antibody drug in nursing homes. Vaccines may not work as well on elderly people or those with compromised immune systems. Since these are the very groups most at risk for severe disease or death if they contract the coronavirus, a successful antibody treatment could have a marked effect on lowering the pandemic’s death toll. Riley G...

In the race to study immunity to the virus, scientists first focused on antibodies -- proteins that stick to and disable foreign invaders. That’s because creating antibodies is the basis for most successful vaccines, so scientists are interested in learning who develops coronavirus antibodies, how long they stick around, and how effective they are at keeping people from getting infected again. But...

More than a month into a resurgence of the novel coronavirus that has besieged Sun Belt states, flooded hospitals and strained public-health infrastructure, the U.S. still lacks a complete picture of the reality on the ground. That’s because the U.S. doesn’t have ANY real-time system to track the virus’s spread. At times, even the federal government has had to rely on third-party databases. Emma C...

An effective vaccine is seen as the world’s greatest hope for achieving some kind of return to normal, and the timeline for developing one has been sped up dramatically. But as hard as it’s going to be to make a vaccine quickly, once we do, we’ll have a new problem: Getting it to billions of people. Brendan Murray explains how difficult it will be for the global supply chain to distribute and admi...

A few places in the U.S. are still relatively unscathed by the virus, but they haven’t been able to escape the economic devastation. Esmé E. Deprez reports on why the fallout from Covid-19 is devastating Maine's lobster business. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When physicians and hospitals became overwhelmed with COVID-19 cases, other medical services, from routine tests to emergency room visits, fell dramatically. The long-term consequences of Americans putting off basic medical care may be disastrous. John Tozzi reports on a new push by the health-care industry to stop so-called "Medical Distancing.” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...

The small South American nation of Uruguay is best known for its grass-fed beef and Atlantic beaches. But the country of 3.5 million people has another distinction: It seems to have dodged the worst of the Covid-19 outbreak despite being nestled between hotspot countries. The country has seen just 1,000 or so cases since the pandemic began, and only 33 deaths. Ken Parks reports the reasons may hav...

An experimental Covid vaccine from Australia joined almost two dozen candidates in clinical trials this week. Development-wise, it’s months behind some of the frontrunners. Jason Gale explains that speed isn’t everything when it comes to fighting the pandemic. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The killers of Berta Caceres had every reason to believe they’d get away with murder. More than 100 other environmental activists in Honduras had been killed in the previous five years, yet almost no one had been punished for the crimes. Bloomberg’s Blood River follows a four-year quest to find her killers – a twisting trail that leads into the country’s circles of power. Blood River premieres on...

While wearing a mask, or refusing to wear one, has become politicized, there’s one Covid safety measure we seem to be comparatively united about: Everyone knows they should stand six feet away from other people in public. But where did this guidance come from? Kristen V. Brown reports that one simple number is already changing our behavior, and will soon change the places where we live, work and p...

We’re learning more about how the virus that causes Covid-19 is spread from person to person. For the most part, it happens when we’re in close contact with an infected person, who emits tiny liquid particles by coughing, sneezing, speaking or singing. You get sick by inhaling the droplets, or having them travel into your ears or nose. But researchers are looking at another way it may be transmitt...

With the start of school fast approaching, institutions from elementary schools to colleges are rushing to reinvent themselves for the coronavirus era. Some are shifting to a mix of in-person and virtual classes. Meanwhile, the Trump administration is pushing schools to reopen completely, regardless of safety. Emma Court reports that as schools become the latest political touchpoint in the Covid c...

In the almost 200 days since coronavirus cases were first reported in central China, health workers and researchers have raced to learn more about the brand new pathogen. As many as 1,000 Covid-19-related research papers are being released daily. Jason Gale reports that the research, and the experience of front-line health care workers, is informing better ways to diagnose, prevent and treat the d...

As a second Coronavirus wave threatens America, a wave of job losses since the disease first hit has left millions without health insurance. Reade Pickert explains that in other developed economies, the newly unemployed could rely on systems of universal health care. In America, they’ve had to navigate a bewildering menu of options to figure out if they have access to a patched-together safety net...

The U.S. is home to the highest number of Covid-19 cases—2.6 million and counting—and the most deaths. The reasons for that are at least, in part, very American ones: Politicized science, a fragmented media landscape, and inequality. Executive Editor Brian Bremner reflects on how decades of political division have made the country a coronavirus superpower in the worst way--an outcome that was enti...

Coronavirus continues its terrifying rampage of large swaths of the country. But the Trump administration has made a point of mentioning that even while cases are rising, deaths are declining. That disconnect is, he says, proof the Covid-19 pandemic is under control. But the mismatch could be an anomaly caused by quirks in how deaths data is collected and reported. It's not necessarily a sign the...