Reopening America

Major League Baseball is getting serious with new protocols to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks among players and staff. Anyone found in violation of these new rules could be suspended for the remainder of the season. Face coverings are required at all times and are even discouraged from talking to or facing each other when eating or drinking together. Bob Nightengale, MLB columnist at USA Today Sports, joins us for more.

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As a result of the pandemic, Halloween could be cancelled, or at least look very different than in the past. Many major theme parks have already cancelled their Halloween events and now, big questions remain about trick-or-treating and also how it could impact the costume and candy industries. Hugo Martin, business writer at the LA Times, joins us for how Halloween could be different this year.

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When there was a critical shortage of N95 facemasks, the FDA relaxed the rules to allow the importation of Chinese-made KN95 masks to help supply hospitals with the proper protection. What happened after that however, was it flooded the market with masks that did not meet basic U.S. quality tests. Austen Hufford, manufacturing reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the problems with KN95 masks.

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Businesses are adjusting pricing, store designs, and product production as the ‘new normal’ for companies is emerging during the pandemic. Businesses are responding to the changing needs of their customers after learning how consumers behaved during the shutdowns. Micah Maidenberg, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for how businesses are looking to make their comebacks.

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States continue to largely go it alone with how they respond to the coronavirus outbreak. Without a set of national guidelines they are relying on their local public health officials when deciding whether to re-close portions of their economies. Many are taking a county by county approach as cases and deaths rise and fall. Ted Mann, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more.

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While diagnostic tests for COVID-19 are more widely available now, you have to be careful when paying with insurance and where you are getting them. One woman in Houston paid for her son’s rapid-response drive-thru test with insurance and it should have cost $175, but the freestanding emergency room tried to bill $2,479. Marshall Allen, healthcare reporter at ProPublica, joins us for how out-of-network covid tests could cost you more than you think.

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We are moving at record speed to develop and approve a vaccine for the coronavirus, but after that comes the hard part: distributing the vaccine. The coordination, planning, and communication needed to pull this off will be so complex and it has many worried, considering the poor response to the pandemic by the administration so far. Lena Sun, health reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for what could be the largest vaccination campaign ever undertaken.

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There is no COVID baby boom that some suspected there might be. In fact, Americans aren’t making babies, and that could be bad for the long term economy. Some estimates say there could be 300-500,000 fewer babies born next year which leads to fewer consumers, workers, and taxpayers. Peter Coy, economics editor at Bloomberg Businessweek, joins us for the American baby bust.

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The summer of 2020 will be full of booming home sales and unfortunately, evictions. The lowest mortgage rates in history are allowing people to take advantage and buy bigger homes, but on the flipside, renters are facing job losses and evictions. Heather Long, economics correspondent at the WSJ, joins us for what else is driving home sales during the pandemic.

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Household transmission is becoming an increasing worry as young people are infecting older family members in shared homes. Many young adults surged into bars and restaurants when things opened back up and are also among essential workers and it is only a matter of time before they come in contact with family members living in multi-generational homes. Lenny Bernstein, health and medicine reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

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