It’s happening again. As we moved to reopen the country, cases are starting to surge and the demand for testing is increasing. But testing shortfalls are causing long lines in hard hit states such as Florida and Texas. Without a vaccine, testing has become the first line of defense and delays complicate everything. Emma Court, healthcare reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how testing is hitting a snag again.

Next, the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University has become the gold standard for tracking COVID-19 cases and deaths. They help provide near real-time data on how coronavirus is spreading across the world in an environment where case counts are consistently inconsistent. Kyle Swenson, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

Finally, despite promises that people should not have to pay for getting sick with COVID-19, doctors are discovering costly long term health effects ranging from kidney failure to heart and lung damage and the question is whether health care providers and insurers will pay for the long term effects. In the meantime, many are being saddled with huge hospital bills. Susannah Luthi, healthcare reporter at Politico, joins us for the costs of treating COVID-19.

Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.