On Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz announced a stay-at-home order for Minnesota, beginning at 11:59 p.m. Friday, March 27. All nonessential businesses need to close, in an effort to stop the rampant spread of COVID-19, and everyone should stay home as much as possible.

We’re not alone. By Saturday, 21 states will be under shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders. But what does that mean? What does life look like under such tight restrictions? Thursday, we will talk with a reporter in California, the first state to issue a stay-at-home order, about what it means – and what it doesn’t.

Guest:

Andrew Bowen, metro reporter at KPBS in San Diego

Social distancing orders have changed the habits of many Americans, with people staying home and finding ways to keep themselves and loved ones busy. Why not turn to a book during this time? What book is easing your concerns or taking you to another place during this time of isolation?

MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with two book experts about what books to check out and what they’re turning to for comfort and relaxation.

Guests:Anitra Budd - Twin Cities based editor and copywriterMatt Keliher - manager and book buyer at Subtext BooksTo listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts , Spotify or RSS

Congress is close to passing a nearly $2 trillion economic stimulus package aimed at easing the damage inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic. It includes expanded unemployment benefits, a $350 billion program to help small businesses, and a $1,200 check to most Americans.

It’s welcome relief for many who are struggling to pay rent, afford health care and buy groceries. But is it enough? What’s the best plan for when the rebate is gone? And will the stimulus package provide more relief to big business than to the individual?

It’s tough out there.

MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with two leading experts in personal finance about how you can prioritize and make smart decisions during this unprecedented time.

Guests:

Sandra Block, senior editor for Kiplinger’s Personal Finance

Michelle Singletary, personal finance columnist for The Washington Post

Researchers are hot on the trail of the new coronavirus. They’re looking for its weaknesses in hopes of stopping it from spreading and putting those who get COVID-19 in a better position to fight it.

Kerri Miller and listeners talked with virologist Angela Rasmussen and infectious disease fellow Dr. Megan Culler Freeman this week about what we know about the virus; how it enters and affects our bodies; and what we have yet to learn.

Below are some of the interview’s highlights, which have been edited for clarity and brevity.

Does the novel coronavirus look like other viruses? What does it mean when people say it’s surrounded by oily molecules?

Angela Rasmussen: The oily molecule that you're referring to is actually the viral envelope, and that is derived from the membrane of the host cell that it's affecting. So as much as that oily envelope is encircling the virus, it also is what encircles every single cell in your body. That can be disrupted with soap.

When the virus particle is out in the environment, for example, such as on your hands, the soap itself disrupts the oily layer that's in the middle of that envelope. When it's disrupted, the spikes (the pointed things we see in close-up pictures of the virus), which are needed in order for the virus to infect a host cell, are removed from the virus.That renders it inactive.

What if the virus gets inside our bodies? What does it do then?

Megan Culler Freeman: A lot of the disease that we experience is the virus replicating. There are cells in your body that have the receptor ACE-2 — it acts kind of like a lock-and-key mechanism. So, the spikes are the key on the outside of the virus and it has to find a cell with the appropriate lock to unlock and to be able to replicate in that cell.

Any cell in your body that expresses that receptor ACE2 — and we find it in many parts of the body (blood vessel cells, lungs, intestines) — would be able to support replication of the virus. And then part of the disease that you ...

For the country’s medical and scientific communities, it’s all hands on deck. While hospitals and clinics are on the front lines treating patients with COVID-19, researchers are working to figure out how the virus works, how it affects our bodies and how it spreads.

MPR News host Kerri Miller checked in with a virologist and infectious disease doctor about the science of the novel respiratory virus and what’s known and unknown about how to contain its spread and protect our health.

Guest:

Angela Rasmussen is a virologist and associate research scientist at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.

Dr. Megan Culler Freeman is an infectious disease fellow at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States continue their upward trajectory. Testing for the new coronavirus has increased and some areas have reported evidence of community spread. As we watch the spread of the respiratory virus, historians and public health officials look back in time for lessons from pandemics and major illnesses of the past.MPR News host Kerri Miller talked with two medical historians about what our past shows us about the new coronavirus; what outbreaks of illness show us about our society; and what to watch for in the coming weeks.

Guests:

Frank Snowden is the Andrew Downey Orrick professor emeritus of history and history of medicine at Yale University. He’s also the author of several books; his latest is “Epidemics and Society: From the Black Death to the Present.”

Graham Mooney is an associate professor in the Department of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University.

Editor’s Note: This conversation was part of a two-day national special, “COVID-19: Hard Questions, Real Answers” in partnership with WABE in Atlanta and distributed by American Public Media.

You can listen to the first part of the special here.

Public health officials and researchers are racing against the spread of the new coronavirus in an effort to slow it down, ease a surge of patients in the nation’s hospitals and protect vulnerable Americans. Many disease experts are calling for a nationwide closure of all schools and nonessential businesses.

Our hosts — Rose Scott of WABE in Atlanta and Kerri Miller of MPR News — talked to three public health experts about the science behind the spread of the virus and what needs to happen to keep communities safe so those in need can access care.

Guests:

Dr. Nancy Messonnier is the director of the Center for the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. David Satcher is the founding director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta. He’s also a former U.S. surgeon general; former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and former assistant secretary for health in the Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Carlos del Rio is the Rollins professor and chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. He also co-directs the Emory Center for AIDS Research and leads the Emory AIDS International Training and Research Program.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts , Spotify or RSS.

Editor’s Note: This conversation was part of a two-day national special, “COVID-19: Hard Questions, Real Answers” in partnership with WABE in Atlanta and distributed by American Public Media.

You can listen to the second part of the special here.

As medical professionals and public health officials race to tamp down the coronavirus pandemic, many Americans are shifting their routines. That includes working fewer hours or working from home — or even unemployment for some. As information about the virus evolves, people are looking for answers about how to keep themselves — and their loved ones — safe.

Meanwhile, hospitals are trying to solve the conundrum of protecting staff, preparing for a potential surge of patients and figuring out how to do all of that with equipment and supply shortages. MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with two doctors from Mayo Clinic as part of our two-day national special, COVID-19: Hard Questions, Real Answers, about the science behind the virus, the country’s medical response and their advice to Americans as the crisis continues.

Guests:

Dr. Greg Poland is the director of the Vaccine Research Group at Mayo Clinic.

Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse is a pediatric infectious diseases physician with Mayo Clinic.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts , Spotify or RSS.

Neurologist Daniel Levitin opens his latest book with a quote from a Dylan Thomas poem:

“Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day.”

Levitin notes that as a younger man, he found those words pointless and saw aging as a failing of the body, mind and spirit. But that’s changed as he grows older himself and sees the way his parents make decisions, work through challenges and approach each day as a new opportunity.

“We need not stumble, stooped and passive, into that good night,” Levitin writes. “We can live it up.”

MPR News host Kerri Miller spoke with Levitin about his latest book, “Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives;” what science shows us about aging well; and what to do to prepare to age well in a culture fascinated by youth and looking and feeling young.

Guest:

Daniel J. Levitin is a neuroscientist, cognitive psychologist and the author of several books. His latest is “Successful Aging: A Neuroscientist Explores the Power and Potential of Our Lives.”

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above. Subscribe to the MPR News with Kerri Miller podcast on: Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts , Spotify or RSS

In February, just over 60 percent of Americans said the federal government was doing enough to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. In the latest poll from NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist College, that number fell to 46 percent.

There's also a sharp partisan divide, especially toward messaging from President Trump and the news media. Three-quarters of Republicans said they trust the president, compared to just 8 percent of Democrats. When it comes to news media coverage, there's a flip, with two-thirds of Democrats trusting the information and 60 percent of Republicans saying they don’t.

At 9 a.m. on Wednesday, host Kerri Miller spoke with a political scientist from Marist College about the poll results; how Americans’ views have changed as the spread of the new coronavirus has increased across the globe; and how public opinion influences the government and others.

Guest:

Lee Miringoff is the director of the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion and an assistant professor of political science at Marist College.