Prognosis: Misconception

Gilead Sciences announced today that it will charge the U.S. government and other developed countries $390 per vial for its coronavirus-fighting drug remdesivir. That begins to answer a big question as drug companies race to find treatments and develop vaccines for the virus: How much will it cost us? But Riley Griffin and Emma Court report that the Pharmaceutical industry is hoping Covid-19 will give it a chance to rebrand; and get the focus off drug prices.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Around the world, nursing homes and assisted living facilities have been a hotbed for Covid-19 outbreaks. Because older people are particularly vulnerable, the facilities have had some of the deadliest outcomes during the pandemic. But some nursing homes have done much better than others at containing the virus. Angelica LaVito reports on a Seattle-area assisted living company that learned the lessons of the pandemic early, and has managed to keep outbreaks from raging out of control.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In Houston, Texas, new Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are surging. Some experts expect the virus outbreak to swamp the city’s medical infrastructure by July 4th. Emma Court and Joe Carroll report that if cases keep rising at their current pace in Harris County, which includes Houston, they will triple or quadruple by mid-July. The city’s hospital system may not be able to manage the crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The NBA is giving players the option to wear a device that tracks their health data when basketball games begin this July. The device - called an Oura Ring - can measure things like the body’s temperature and heart rate. The hope is that it could provide the league with early warning signs that someone may have contracted an illness like COVID-19. Bloomberg reporter Kristen V. Brown reports that the move is part of a larger conversation about whether or not wearable technology like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch can help fight the pandemic.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

More than six months into a shape-shifting pandemic that’s killed more than 454,000 people worldwide, it’s clear we are losing the battle against the outbreak. Most experts believe an effective vaccine won’t be ready until well into 2021. So how do we adjust our thinking from beating the virus, to coexisting with it? Michelle Fay Cortez discusses the next phase of the virus, and what public health professionals say we have to do to survive it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As soon as the Coronavirus became a pandemic, people began making parallels to the Spanish Flu outbreak of 1918, and reaching even further back to the black death of the middle ages. It makes sense--past pandemics may be our only reference point for whole populations being stricken with illness. But they can also tell us a lot about how economies recover after outbreaks. From the Odd Lots podcast, Tracy Alloway and Joe Weisenthal talk to Jamie Catherwood, an expert in finance history, about how Covid-19 is different -- and similar -- to decades-, and even centuries-old diseases.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If there’s one simple technology that has come to the forefront during the coronavirus pandemic, it’s the face mask. Special masks called respirators are designed to prevent doctors and nurses from catching the virus when they treat infected people. But not all respirators do what they’re labelled to. Fakes and shoddy products abound. And you can’t always tell how many particles a mask can filter just by looking at it. Naomi Kresge reported on how you catch a fake mask – and the lengths one German company is going to, to fight the problem.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Long before the Covid pandemic, another global health disaster was brewing, threatening to kill millions of people annually. Superbugs – germs even our most potent antibiotics can’t defeat – pose a massive challenge to human health and wellbeing. The coronavirus, of course, isn’t stopped by antibiotics, which target bacteria. Even so, antibiotics have been used liberally for Covid-19 patients. Jason Gale reports that could worsen the superbug crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It’s now relatively easy to get tested to see if you carry the antibodies for Covid-19. Urgent Care centers and many doctor’s offices are offering the tests widely. But the science is still out on whether or not people who have had Covid-19 become immune to it. Not to mention the possibility that the test you take may not be accurate. Reporter Kristen V. Brown tries to answer the question: is it worth taking the test at all?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As the pandemic spreads around the world, new hotspots are emerging. Coronavirus is spiking in Brazil, Mexico, Peru and elsewhere, and health experts have called Latin America the new epicenter of the pandemic. But the impact has been uneven. Some countries have successfully slowed the rate of new infections; others see that rate continuing to climb. Jason Gale spoke with the World Health Organization’s top official for the Americas to find out what makes some populations especially vulnerable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid-19 is on the rise around the country. Texas and Florida, two of the most populous U.S. states, reported record numbers of new infections on Sunday. The recent surge in those states and others has led public-health officials to worry that reopening the economy has come at too grave a cost. What's clear is that between reopening policies, weariness with staying home, and large protests around the country, Americans are moving around and interacting more than they have in months. Emma Court has been covering what is increasingly looking like a second wave of the virus.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When the country went into lockdown this spring, it forced kids to adapt to a new life at home. The adjustment for them--and their parents -- has been huge. Experts still aren’t sure what will happen in the upcoming school year, meaning kids could be living in quarantine for much longer. Kristen V. Brown reports on what we how children are coping with the virus so far.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The coronavirus is hitting Latin America in ways unseen in the developed world. In Mexico, Covid-19 is savaging a health care system that was already inadequate. Doctors and nurses in Mexico say they lack masks and gloves. Hospitals are at 80% capacity in Mexico City. More than 20,000 health care workers have caught the virus. Nacha Cattan reports on what happens when a crisis hits a system that was unprepared, and underfunded, in the best of times.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A top World Health Organization official sparked a controversy earlier this week when she said cases of asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 spreading the virus are "very rare.” She later clarified her remarks. That provided a moment to explore the debate over so-called silent spreaders -- people who don't get sick after they're infected with the virus -- and their role in its transmission.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Never in the modern scientific era have so many people been infected with the same virus in such a short period of time. For many survivors of coronavirus, symptoms hang on for weeks or even months. Bloomberg senior editor Jason Gale reports on efforts for finding ways to prevent such cases of post-Covid-19 illness in the future.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The controversial drug is back in the news. In the early days of the pandemic, President Trump and some doctors touted it as an effective treatment. But studies soon discredited the treatment. Now, in an unexpected twist, some research papers dismissing the drug have also been thrown in doubt. So how useful is Hydroxychloroquine and how reliable are the reviews we rely on to assess a drug's safety? Laura Carlson speaks to Bloomberg reporters Michelle Cortez and Robert Langreth for answers.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Madrid was one of Europe’s hardest hit cities by the coronavirus, but now it's coming back to life. We explore how the reopening is going as Bloomberg reporter Jeannette Neumann talks to owners of some of the hundreds of bars, restaurants, and hotels that dot the city.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Social distancing has been the guiding principle in how to open up the U.S. amid the pandemic. But no one could have foreseen the densely-packed protests after George Floyd’s death in police custody. Could the protests now set off a new wave of infections? Bloomberg’s Michelle Cortez spoke to scientists about that possibility. What they have to say is not reassuring.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley insists that the long-delayed drug-price bill he is co-sponsoring will get a vote this year. Grassley worries that if the bill doesn't pass, drugmakers will charge whatever they want for Covid-19 related drugs. But drug lobbyists are counting on the coronavirus making drug pricing reform obsolete. Emma Court and Riley Griffin spoke to Senator Grassley about the bill.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

At least 21,000 New Yorkers are dead from Covid-19, with a few dozen added to the city’s count every day. The city’s deaths are 10 times those of Los Angeles County’s. They’ve surpassed the 16,000 lives lost in Italy’s hard-hit Lombardy region. Drew Armstrong reviewed the statements of experts, officials, and politicians to better understand the root causes of New York City’s devastating outbreak.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dogs have long had a positive link with human health. Science has shown that the benefits of dog ownership extend from reducing the risk of schizophrenia to improving cardiovascular health. But Jason Gale reports they may have other, untapped powers to help stop the spread of coronavirus. Plus: How coronavirus created the conditions for the recent nationwide protests. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists and politicians have wondered for months whether the coronavirus would diminish, if not disappear entirely, over the summer. As the weather heats up in the Northern Hemisphere, and cools down in the Southern part of the world Jason Gale talked to one of America’s most respected public health experts to understand the facts about the virus in warm weather.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As competitors publicly entered the race to produce a vaccine, drug giant Merck stayed quiet about its development plans. Now, the company has revealed it’s working on two vaccines and a treatment pill -- emerging as a frontrunner in the development contest. Although the company has refused to give firm timelines for its research, it has pledged to make its vaccines and pill available globally, if they're successful. Riley Griffin talked with Merck Chief Executive Kenneth C. Frazier about the company's plans.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

So far, more than 300,000 people globally are known to have died because of the coronavirus. The U.S. is fast approaching the grim milestone of 100,000 fatalities. And as shocking as those numbers are, experts believe there are actually many more deaths we’re not counting. We need to understand how fast, and in what groups, mortality is rising, in order to fine-tune the policies that govern our response to the virus. Jason Gale reports that experts are looking past the official count to find other ways to investigate just how many people are dying.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Knowing how many people are being tested for coronavirus is essential for getting an accurate picture of the spread of the virus. But the government hasn’t readily provided this data. Instead, experts, media outlets and even the Trump administration have turned to a surprising source for these numbers: A volunteer effort by a team of journalists, called the Covid Tracking Project. Emma Court reports on what we're learning from the project.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There's an innovative, but risky way we could speed up development of a COVID-19 vaccine. Some scientists argue we should intentionally infect volunteers with the coronavirus to get a vaccine sooner. How would it work? Today's special episode is a collaboration with Tradeoffs, a podcast about our costly, complicated and counter-intuitive health care system. Tradeoffs' Dan Gorenstein explores how scientists could ethically and safely infect people to speed up the fight against COVID-19.Subscribe to the Tradeoffs podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Or check them out at tradeoffs.org.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There’s a growing public health argument about how people should calculate risk when it comes to social distancing. Many states are now lifting stay-at-home restrictions, summer is around the corner, and people in the third month of what many hoped would be a weeks-long disruption are desperate to visit friends and get outside. That means we will be socializing a lot more--in many cases, without clear guidelines as to what’s really risky. Kristen V. Brown reports that as we learn more about how the virus spreads, and what constitutes risky behavior, messaging from experts will have to become a little more nuanced than just “stay home, stay safe.”See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Calls continue to mount for the release of inmates at risk of COVID-19 infection as cases rise at correctional facilities across the country. So far, 70 percent of inmates have tested positive for the coronavirus, according to the Bureau of Prisons. Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex, a low-security prison about 200 miles west of New Orleans, is one of the federal prisons hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. Jordan Gass-Poore’ reports on what is being done to combat the spread of the disease in the prison population.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Covid-19 has sparked an unprecedented mobilization of researchers looking to create a drug that can stem the spread of the virus. Globally, drug developers are working on as many as 100 experimental vaccines. But as nations rush to ease lockdowns and restart economies, some countries seem to want to secure early supplies of a vaccine for themselves. James Paton reported on efforts to democratize international access to vaccines, and the dangers of creating immunization gaps.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Internet has been teeming with theories about the origin of the coronavirus. Scientists have been saying for more than three months that it most likely originated in a species of bat found in the south of China, and then managed to somehow jump into people. But alternative explanations have been floated. United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has repeatedly blamed China, and specifically a laboratory in Wuhan that was researching dangerous viruses. Jason Gale talked to a World Health Organization scientist to tease out the most plausible explanation for where the virus came from.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The tedious and time-consuming practice of contact tracing is seen as an essential ingredient for suppressing the coronavirus around the world; but not every country has invested in it. The World Health Organization has praised Germany for its contact tracing practices. The country has about a quarter the deaths of neighboring France, despite a more flexible lockdown. Last weekend it continued its cautious move toward pandemic normalcy by letting restaurants re-open. Naomi Kresge reports on the Würzburg region, where armies of tracers are fighting the virus with old-fashioned tools.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The aviation industry is wrestling with ways to control the coronavirus and get people back to flying. Airports have seen a 90 percent drop in passengers since mid-March. But as states ease lockdown restrictions, more people are expected to fly. Airports today are starting to make changes in the hopes that passengers will be safer as they fly. Justin Bachman reports on what it looks like to fly during a pandemic, and how air travel may change going forward.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

When Covid-19 hit, Gilead Sciences Inc. had enough of its experimental drug remdesivir ready to test and start manufacturing it at a larger scale. That's because it had started stockpiling not just the drug, but its ingredients, at the first hint there may be a new coronavirus. Robert Langreth reports on why the company was able to act early to prepare for a pandemic when so many businesses and institutions did not.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Covid-19 infects more and more people, doctors around are learning that the coronavirus doesn’t just attack the lungs. The virus can cause kidney failure; send the body’s immune system into high gear; and lead to a range of clotting-related disorders. Jason Gale reports on how much more we have yet to learn about what the virus does to the body.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After months of sheltering in place, some people have begun looking for ways to get around some of the more onerous social distancing guidelines. That’s especially true as the weather warms up in the U.S. Bloomberg reporter Kristen V. Brown collected listener questions around social distancing etiquette, and brought them to an expert to clear up the confusion. If you have any more quarantine questions, give us a call at 646 324 3490. We may even play your voicemail on a future show.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, a five-year-old boy in New York died from Covid-19-related complications. Dozens of other children are becoming sick with a similar cluster of symptoms that mirror a rare condition called Kawasaki disease. The accepted wisdom had been that children could transmit the virus, but not get sick from it. The new illness is throwing that assumption into question. Jason Gale talked to the world’s leading expert on Kawasaki disease to help unpack what is going on.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Last week, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory released alarming news: At least one variant of the virus that causes Covid-19 had significantly mutated to become more contagious. If true, this would have major implications. A new variant could, for example, hamper efforts to develop a vaccine or mean that people who’ve already had Covid-19 might face a greater risk of getting it again. But critics said the data didn’t support such a big claim. Kristen V. Brown discusses what it really means that the virus is changing.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Antibody tests are suddenly everywhere. These tests are designed to determine whether someone contracted the virus in the past. They help policy makers understand how the virus spreads, and whether measures to contain the virus are working.Federal regulators relaxed guidelines to make it easier for companies to produce the tests, but this has allowed for a flood of unreliable--and sometimes fraudulent--tests to be offered to consumers. Now, Kristen V. Brown reports, the government is trying to control the mess.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dozens of research teams across the world are racing to deliver a vaccine for the coronavirus. Developing, testing and bringing a vaccine to market is a process that usually takes years, even decades. But that process is being ramped up to warp speed as the virus ravages the globe. A small group of volunteers is already receiving an experimental vaccine. Jason Gale spoke to one of them, and gives us a peek inside the fast-moving world of coronavirus vaccine development.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctor Richard Besser was the acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2009, when the H1N1 Swine flu pandemic broke out. The physician-turned-epidemiologist now runs the Robert Wood Johnson foundation with a mission to improve health equality. Reporter Riley Griffin spoke to him about what happens to the most vulnerable communities as states begin to relax social distancing rules; and the danger that we'll never have a vaccine.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Health-care workers are under threat from more than just the coronavirus itself: The mental health effects of the work are grave. Doctors and nurses fighting Covid-19 are watching patients die at rates rarely seen in civilian medicine; and they’re delivering the news to family members who aren’t allowed inside the hospital for fear of spreading the disease. Hospitals are trying to treat the minds and hearts of the healers by offering counseling, crisis hotlines and therapy dogs. Emma Court discusses the scars the pandemic is leaving on hospital workers, and what the health care system can do about it.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Scientists are facing unparalleled pressure to provide information about the coronavirus as quickly as possible. And when every day brings forth new data, what was clear one day may be confusing the next. Guidance has shifted rapidly about the benefits of wearing masks, how the virus spreads, and even the efficacy of promising new drugs like Remdesivir. Science doesn't usually move this fast. Michelle Fay Cortez and Robert Langreth report on what happens when the slow and steady process of research, peer review, and the traditional publication process hits warp speed?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As Covid-19 spreads, doctors are learning more about why some patients get very sick, and why others only get mildly ill. Some of the people most at risk for severe illness have underlying conditions that affect their lungs. Older people are also at a higher risk. But certain factors, when combined with age, create a powder keg for the effects of the disease. Both smoking and obesity are conditions that can lead to fatal results in Covid-19 patients. Bloomberg Senior Editor Jason Gale explains how these conditions have made the coronavirus more lethal in some countries.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As states grapple with the question of when it will be safe to reopen businesses and relax social distancing, there's increasing urgency to better understand who's immune to Covid-19. Does having the virus and recovering mean you can't get it again, or at least that you can’t be reinfected for some time? No one yet has good answers to these questions. Kristen V. Brown looked into what we do, and don't, know about the science of coronavirus immunity.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Trump administration announced a plan yesterday to ramp up coronavirus testing. But even as it announces this new push, the Federal government has pushed much of the responsibility for testing to states. Experts say the lack of Federal leadership has led to a free-for-all, where states compete to get their hands on tests, and few states are left in a good position to reopen. Emma Court and John Tozzi report on the difficult logistics required to mount a meaningful testing operation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Iceland has become one of the best places in the world to study Covid-19. That’s because the country is an island nation with only one real port of entry and a small population. It also introduced widespread testing as soon as the virus arrived in March. Bloomberg reporter Kristen V. Brown traveled to Reykjavik, the capital, just as the global scale of the pandemic was starting to become clear. She reports that the rest of the world is learning from Iceland about how the virus moves through a population.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ventilators have become prized in hospitals across the U.S. and beyond because they are desperately needed to treat very ill Covid-19 patients. But they are also feared for the damage they can inflict, and for the slim odds of survival they offer. Michelle Fay Cortez and Olivia Carville report that it's not yet clear what the long-term consequences ventilators have for those lucky enough to recover after having been on one.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Millions in Wuhan, China, the city where the novel coronavirus first emerged, are trying to figure out what life looks like in the bustling industrial city after the worst pandemic in a century. Bloomberg’s Beijing bureau chief Sharon Chen went to Wuhan recently to explore life after lockdown. She found a world that still feels far from normal, and a population that’s keenly aware of both the threat of disease, and the watchful eye of China’s surveillance state.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pandemic is putting care on hold for a lot of people with other serious health conditions, like cancer.Doctors are delaying procedures and surgeries in order to save resources like hospital beds and ventilators for Covid-19 patients, and prevent the infection from spreading. Emma Court reports on the difficult choices doctors are forced to make, and the danger that we're creating another health care crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The shortages of protective masks that keep healthcare workers safe from Covid-19 are well documented by now. To meet the need, U.S. hospitals have taken the extreme step of turning directly to Chinese manufacturers. Reporter Riley Griffin reports that the demand has helped spur a Wild West scenario, where Profiteering middlemen ratchet up prices. Buyers must sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to try to ensure quality.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.