Businesses are adjusting pricing, store designs, and product production as the ‘new normal’ for companies is emerging during the pandemic. Businesses are responding to the changing needs of their customers after learning how consumers behaved during the shutdowns. Micah Maidenberg, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for how businesses are looking to make their comebacks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 06, 2020•7 min
When there was a critical shortage of N95 facemasks, the FDA relaxed the rules to allow the importation of Chinese-made KN95 masks to help supply hospitals with the proper protection. What happened after that however, was it flooded the market with masks that did not meet basic U.S. quality tests. Austen Hufford, manufacturing reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the problems with KN95 masks. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for pr...
Aug 06, 2020•8 min
States continue to largely go it alone with how they respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Without a set of national guidelines they are relying on their local public health officials when deciding whether to re-close portions of their economies. Many are taking a county by county approach as cases and deaths rise and fall. Ted Mann, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 05, 2020•7 min
We are moving at record speed to develop and approve a vaccine for the coronavirus, but after that comes the hard part: distributing the vaccine. The coordination, planning, and communication needed to pull this off will be so complex and it has many worried, considering the poor response to the pandemic by the administration so far. Lena Sun, health reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for what could be the largest vaccination campaign ever undertaken. Learn more about your ad-choices at h...
Aug 04, 2020•7 min
While diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are more widely available now, you have to be careful when paying with insurance and where you are getting them. One woman in Houston paid for her son’s rapid-response drive-thru test with insurance and it should have cost $175, but the freestanding emergency room tried to bill $2,479. Marshall Allen, healthcare reporter at ProPublica, joins us for how out-of-network covid tests could cost you more than you think. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://ww...
Aug 04, 2020•8 min
The summer of 2020 will be full of booming home sales and unfortunately, evictions. The lowest mortgage rates in history are allowing people to take advantage and buy bigger homes, but on the flipside, renters are facing job losses and evictions. Heather Long, economics correspondent at the WSJ, joins us for what else is driving home sales during the pandemic. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Aug 03, 2020•7 min
There is no COVID baby boom that some suspected there might be. In fact, Americans aren’t making babies, and that could be bad for the long term economy. Some estimates say there could be 300-500,000 fewer babies born next year which leads to fewer consumers, workers, and taxpayers. Peter Coy, economics editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, joins us for the American baby bust. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information...
Aug 03, 2020•7 min
There is new evidence that COVID-19 can have lingering effects on your heart. A German study is showing that MRIs of people who have recovered from the coronavirus still had visual signs that the virus had an impact months after recovering. Patients showed signs of ongoing inflammation of the heart muscle. Erika Edwards, health and medical reporter at NBC News, joins us for how COVID-19 can linger in your heart. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystu...
Jul 31, 2020•7 min
Household transmission is becoming an increasing worry as young people are infecting older family members in shared homes. Many young adults surged into bars and restaurants when things opened back up and are also among essential workers and it is only a matter of time before they come in contact with family members living in multi-generational homes. Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpod...
Jul 31, 2020•6 min
Cigarette smoking may have made a comeback during the coronavirus pandemic. Americans are spending less on travel and entertainment and as a result are having more opportunities to light up. We are also seeing that some people are moving away from vaping and returning to traditional cigarettes after restrictions on e-cigarette flavors. Jennifer Maloney, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for...
Jul 30, 2020•6 min
Baseball has been having a rough go as they began their 60 game season amid the pandemic. MLB has paused the 2020 season for the Miami Marlins after an outbreak of COVID-19 among players and staff. One big issue for them is the misalignment between the playing schedule, testing schedule, and protocols for what happens in between. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener fo...
Jul 29, 2020•7 min
One of the main symptoms for many that get COVID-19 is losing their sense of smell. Scientists now know why that happens and the good news is, it’s only temporary. SARS-CoV-2 attacks the cells that support smell-detecting neurons, and because they don’t actually attack the neurons themselves, people usually recover after a few weeks. Elizabeth Weise, national correspondent at USA Today, joins us for why the coronavirus attacks your sense of smell. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www....
Jul 29, 2020•5 min
What does it take to keep a movie studio open during the pandemic? A lot of work and a lot of coronavirus tests. Pinewood Atlanta Studios will be spending $1.5 million on tests each month once it is operating at full capacity. They are also using an app to track worker’s symptoms between tests, and a badge system that doesn’t let you open any doors on the lot unless you have a negative test. Sarah Krouse, reporter at the WSJ joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.ihea...
Jul 28, 2020•8 min
We all know that those with underlying health conditions are more at risk of getting worse symptoms from COVID-19, but those with diabetes are dying more often. A new government study shows that nearly 40% of people who have died of COVID-19 had diabetes. Robin Respaut, reporter at Reuters, joins us for why coronavirus is killing diabetes patients at alarming rates. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Jul 28, 2020•7 min
The politics of the coronavirus recovery takes center stage this week as Republicans will unveil their stimulus proposal just days before enhanced unemployment benefits are set to expire. The GOP favors a targeted bill to address this issue, but Democrats have rejected that wanting a comprehensive bill. Democrats favor a bill with a price tag closer to $3.5 trillion and Republicans are in at the $1 trillion range. We are also 100 days out from the 2020 election and have a few new polls showing t...
Jul 27, 2020•7 min
Six months after the coronavirus appeared in America, the nation’s ineffective response has failed to contain it. There is no unified national response and everything about it has become politicized. Testing continues to remain a problem with long wait times to be tested and to get results, which also makes contact tracing useless. While other countries were able to drive infection rates down, it seems that opening the country back up too soon and without proper guidelines may have been the bigg...
Jul 24, 2020•11 min
The U.S. has agreed to pay Pfizer and BioNTech nearly $2 billion to secure 100 million doses of their experimental coronavirus vaccine. It still needs to go through phase three trials and be approved by the FDA, but the race is on to secure as many doses as possible. Operation Warp Speed has struck similar deals with other vaccine developers as well. Jared Hopkins, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for all the money being poured into vaccines. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.i...
Jul 23, 2020•6 min
Congress continues to debate what to do about enhanced jobless benefits that are set to expire at the end of next week. Some 25 million Americans are set to lose an extra $600 a week that were given out to help keep people afloat during the pandemic shutdowns. Also on the table is whether to dish out more individual stimulus payments. Eric Morath, labor economics and policy reporter at the WSJ joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystu...
Jul 23, 2020•8 min
Many restaurants have hit their breaking point and are permanently calling it quits. Riding the rollercoaster of coronavirus restrictions and people wary of eating out has proved too much for some to stay in business. Over 15,000 restaurants have permanently closed and more could be on the way. Heather Haddon, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the restaurant industry. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystu...
Jul 22, 2020•6 min
Vitamin C is a having a moment during the pandemic and sales are surging, but you have to watch out for some offering it up as a coronavirus treatment. The FTC and FBI are investigating health clinics and wellness centers for overhyping high-dose IV infusions of vitamin C as ways to prevent or treat COVID-19. Brent Schrotenboer, investigative reporter at USA Today, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Jul 22, 2020•8 min
Good news on the vaccine front: In early stage trials, a vaccine candidate from Oxford University and AstraZeneca caused no serious side effects and produces an immune response of both antibodies and T-cells. The U.S. has also paid $1.2 billion dollars to secure at least 300 million doses when it’s available. Dave Lawler, world editor at Axios, joins us for the latest on the Oxford vaccine. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for p...
Jul 21, 2020•7 min
When looking at the economic toll the pandemic has inflicted on the country, many people are focused on job losses and unemployment benefits, but another thing to look out for is wage cuts. Many Americans who kept their jobs have seen temporary hour and pay cuts that could become permanent or pave the way for more layoffs. Megan Cassella, economics reporter at Politico, joins us for these widespread wage cuts. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudi...
Jul 21, 2020•7 min
We are all looking forward to the end game for COVID-19, when the spread of the virus slows down significantly or stops altogether because enough people have immunity to it. Whether it is by vaccine or enough people catching it, we are trying to get to the point of herd immunity, but the math to get there is tricky, and the variables used to calculate keep making it a moving target. Kevin Hartnett, senior math writer at Quanta Magazine, joins us for how the population can achieve herd immunity. ...
Jul 20, 2020•10 min
From the beginning of the pandemic and despite calls from governors across the country for a unified national response, the plan has largely been every state for itself. From obtaining your own PPE and setting up your own testing and contact tracing programs, states have been desperate for federal support. Alice Miranda Ollstein, healthcare reporter at Politico, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...
Jul 20, 2020•7 min
COVID parties are not a thing. You might have seen stories about people throwing parties to intentionally infect others with the coronavirus, but if you dig deeper into the stories, they quickly fall apart. To be clear, people can and are getting sick by partying in close quarters, but they are not throwing COVID-specific parties. Gilad Edelman, senior writer at Wired, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for priv...
Jul 17, 2020•6 min
Demand for coronavirus testing continues to go up and the supplies continue dwindle, as we hear stories of long wait times and even longer waits for results. But that doesn’t seem to be a problem for sports teams that are testing players every day and getting results in 24 hours. Louise Radnofsky, sports reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how sports teams are handling testing. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...
Jul 17, 2020•8 min
We’ve seen a number of states experience a surge in coronavirus cases and become new hotspots. Largely avoiding a big outbreak early in the pandemic, Arizona now has the highest per-capita rate of COVID-19 cases in America over the past week. Local officials and public health experts are pointing a finger at the leadership for being complacent and not preparing for a future wave when they had time. Dan Frosch, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for how Arizona wasn’t ready for its coronavirus surge....
Jul 16, 2020•8 min
The reopening of schools in the fall continues to be a contentious discussion with some committed to on-campus instruction and others only online. Los Angeles, San Diego, and Atlanta, three of the nation’s largest school districts, said this week that they will begin the new school year online and bring students back later in the year. Illustrating the divide in California, the Orange County Board of Education voted to support the return to school without social distancing or masks. Laura Meckle...
Jul 15, 2020•9 min
As President Trump continues the push to reopen schools, the CDC wants to take a more cautious approach. A CDC document on its guidelines was leaked and it recommends that schools be prepared to shut down for several days if a person carrying the virus was in a school building, they should have multiple means of social distancing and limits on out-of-classroom activities. As with many things these days however, there seems to be a disconnect between policy and science. John Timmer, senior editor...
Jul 15, 2020•10 min
The reopening of America has not been going so well just yet. While some gains have been made, a resurgence of cases and delays in unemployment benefits have continued to push people to the edge. There are issues with fraud and user confusion, long waits to process jobless applications, and outdated computer systems used by unemployment offices. Eli Rosenberg, work and labor reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.c...
Jul 14, 2020•8 min
