Homeless at high risk. Homeless shelters are potential coronavirus hot spots. Yet they’re busier than ever. Union Rescue Mission on L.A.'s skid row continues to serve free hot meals and is taking people in with nowhere else to go. Our guest is the Rev. Andy Bales, chief executive of Union Rescue Mission.

More reading: 70 test positive for coronavirus at San Francisco homeless shelter.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

In California, no one can dine in restaurants, per Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home orders. Some businesses are trying take-out, but running a restaurant — hard enough in the best of times — is effectively impossible now. Still, chefs and cooks are doing everything in their power to stay afloat. Our guest is Minh Phan, owner of Porridge + Puffs in L.A.’s Historic Filipinotown.

More reading: These restaurants are offering takeout and delivery during the coronavirus pandemic.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Los Angeles has one of the highest populations of renters in the U.S. Because of the coronavirus, many of them don’t know how they’ll come up with the money to pay their rents in full. Our guest is Trinidad Ruiz, an organizer for the Los Angeles Tenants Union, which is calling for rent forgiveness during the pandemic.

More reading: L.A. has a coronavirus eviction ban, but landlords are finding ways to demand rent.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Mourning the death of a loved one is never easy. But for such intimate pain to be part of the biggest crisis of our lifetime — it’s a tragedy. Our guest is Sonia Velez, a Bell resident who lost her uncle to COVID-19 last month.

More reading: With emergency rooms and ICUs filling rapidly, those inside California’s hospitals are tense, tired and determined to endure.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

Two months after California’s first confirmed case of COVID-19, the state is preparing to confront what public health officials agree will be a peak in illnesses and deaths. Our guest is Soumya Karlamangla, who covers healthcare in California for the Los Angeles Times.

More reading: As states scramble to secure ventilators during the crisis, a potential shortage looms of respiratory therapists, the workers trained to operate them.

[Advertisement] This L.A. Times podcast is presented to you by Blue Shield of California. The fight is tough, but so are you. Thank you, front line.

"Coronavirus in California: Stories from the Front Lines" is a new podcast from the Los Angeles Times hosted by reporter Gustavo Arellano. Every weekday, the podcast will give listeners dispatches from Californians who are in the thick of this pandemic. The first episode of "Coronavirus in California" premieres Wednesday April 8, everywhere podcasts are available.