Reopening America

For the first time in nearly 50 years, the number of dialysis patients shrunk, not because more people were healthy, but because Covid struck. People with kidney failure and the associated illnesses are more prone to severe infection, but many people also neglected getting their treatments during the pandemic. And despite dialysis centers implementing Covid precautions, some facilities didn't follow their own infection control policies. Duaa Eldeib, reporter at ProPublica, joins us for how dialysis patients were the pandemic's perfect victims and how few people took notice.

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Covid testing is once again becoming an issue as the demand for tests is growing. Specifically, at-home rapid tests are very hard to come by and when you do find them the prices can be inflated. Some are resorting to buying the tests at triple the retail price as they are becoming a necessity for returning to work and school. Kelsey Butler, equality reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for the unpredictable market for rapid tests.

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30,000 active-duty service members still have yet to be vaccinated despite mandates and some deadlines already passing. To be clear, the vaccination rate stands at more than 97%, but some are instead resigning or facing honorable discharges. Lawsuits are pending and thousands have requested religious exemptions, although none have been granted. Melissa Hernandez, reporter at the LA Times, joins us for more.

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Omicron has definitely thrown a wrench into back-to-school plans for students as many districts shifted last minute to remote learning after the holiday break. For parents, the constant changes have left them frustrated trying to adjust to evolving plans and confused on what to do. The students aren’t faring better either. Maggie Astor, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for more.

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Covid cases continue to rise in the U.S. as the Omicron variant proves to be highly transmissible. The rise in infections has reignited the conversation over masks which now has some doctors and healthcare systems saying cloth masks may not be enough, recommending that you pair them with surgical masks or upgrade to other options like KN95 masks. Nidhi Subbaraman, science reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what to know.

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We have been seeing a lot of action with the 'Great Resignation' as people quit their jobs for better opportunities. But people aren't just leaving, they're broadcasting it to social media and finding a community with others who have done the same. Traditionally career coaches wouldn't recommend speaking ill of former employers online, but all the rules have changed. Emma Goldberg, reporter at the NY Times, joins us for more.

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Waves of Covid infections continue to cause problems for hospital systems facing staff shortages and that are already full treating people with other ailments. In most cases, those locking up the system are patients who are unvaccinated and it doesn’t stop in just one area. The ripple effects of transferring patients to different locations with space to treat them also puts a strain on hospital workers. Drew Armstrong, senior editor for healthcare at Bloomberg News, joins us for more.

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We are getting more information on the Omicron variant from the first large real-world study in South Africa and see protection from hospitalization fall to 70% and against infection fall to 33%. This study pitted the new variant against two shots of Pfizer, which has been widely used in the area. Denise Roland, healthcare reporter at the WSJ, joins us for what we are seeing from Omicron, more transmissible and so far, milder infections.

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2021 has been the ultimate seller’s market with a number of housing records set this past year. The pandemic sent remote workers into a rush looking for bigger places and mortgage rates were at an all-time low. Median home sales reached a high and the speed at which homes sold also set a record. Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin, joins us for all the housing records set this year.

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Months of pandemic learning and then switching back to in-person instruction has left many students without the social maturity needed to advance to the next grade. As a result schools are having to deal with a wave of misbehavior with minor incidents but also major things like fights and gun possession. Ben Chapman, national education reporter at the WSJ, joins us for how schools are responding... more counseling, increased patrols and fewer suspensions.

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