Going through the coronavirus pandemic has been a learning process for both people and governments in how the virus infects someone, but there is finally a growing consensus on how you catch COVID-19. Getting sick from touching surfaces or quick encounters is less of a worry than close-up, person to person interactions for extended periods of time. It's crucial to understand how the virus is transmitted because it informs governments on the proper ways to reopen economies. We should still be worried about things like concerts and bars, we need to improve ventilation in buildings, and we need to continue to wear those facemasks. Betsy McKay, senior writer at the WSJ, joins us for more on how you catch COVID-19.

Next, there have been over 50,000 coronavirus deaths in U.S. nursing homes. In New York, one of the hardest hit areas in the country, things got very complicated when Gov. Andrew Cuomo in March issued an order stating that if a hospital determined a patient who needed nursing home care was medically stable, the home had to accept them even if they had been treated for COVID-19. The reasoning behind the order was that it would open up crucial beds when they thought hospitals would be overwhelmed by coronavirus patients. Joaquin Sapien, reporter at ProPublica, joins us for how this decision might have contributed to the spread of COVID-19 in New York nursing homes.

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

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.