Reopening America

The hunt is on for vaccine test subjects and coronavirus researchers are having to compete to recruit tens of thousands of healthy people for phase 3 trials. While drugmakers usually recruit patients through advertising on social media or at doctor’s offices, they are now looking at pharmacies, enlisting churches in the search and even requesting that their own employees and families ask around. Jared Hopkins, Pharma reporter at the WSJ, joins us for the search for vaccine trial participants.

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As the coronavirus continues its spread throughout the country, some hospitals are also struggling to contain the spread inside its walls. While it's only a small number of overall cases, U.S. medical centers have reported over 5,000 cases of patients catching coronavirus after being admitted for other conditions and that number does not include cases of medical staff that have caught the virus at work. Melanie Evans, hospital reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more on how hospitals try to protect both staff and patients from infection.

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We continue to monitor how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the economy, and for the retail sector, it looks like it will be a tough rebound. Retail lost about 1.2 million jobs between March and June and many store closure that were supposed to be temporary might end up being permanent. Online shopping will continue to grow and brick and mortar stores will have to continue to adjust their models to buy online and pick up in-store as shopping in person continues to face difficulties. Jennifer Kingson, managing editor for business news at Axios, joins us for more.

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As the school year approaches in the fall, it might not be the best course of action to treat schools like COVID hot zones. Thankfully, children are, by and large, spared most of the effects of the virus. They are only half as likely to get infected as adults and while they can transmit the disease, they seldom cause outbreaks. In the meantime, as schools in other countries have already opened, we can look to them to see what has worked and what has not. Some of the most appropriate safety measures could include testing and contact tracing, improved ventilation in classes, and keeping students with a single group of peers throughout each day. David Zweig, contributor to Wired, joins us for more.

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The 4th of July will not be the same this year as various states are closing down beaches, bars and restaurants, and shutting down fireworks displays in response to rising COVID-19 cases.  Officials are targeting places that younger people tend to congregate as the rise in cases are affecting more people in their 20s and 30s. Rachel Adams-Heard, reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how more young Americans are getting the coronavirus.

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Several Texas bar owners have filed a lawsuit against Gov. Greg Abbot over his order to shut down bars for a second time since the pandemic began. Bar owners feel like they are being unfairly targeted when restaurants that serve alcohol can remain open and other businesses can continue to operate. Bars are especially vulnerable because people tend to gather in close quarters for extended periods of time, there is poor air ventilation, and virus particles can spread with people speaking loudly. Sarah Blaskovich, reporter at the Dallas Morning News, joins us for more.

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Moderna is currently the front-runner in developing a coronavirus vaccine. They will be entering the third phase of clinical trials this month with about 30,000 people participating. While there is a lot of hope riding on Moderna to come through, the company has no track record in developing an approved drug and is also using an unproven approach to making the vaccine. Still, the company is worth $24 billion because of its current work. Peter Loftus, reporter at the WSJ, joins us for more on vaccine front-runner, Moderna.

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The Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University has become the gold standard for tracking COVID-19 cases and deaths. They help provide near real-time data on how coronavirus is spreading across the world in an environment where case counts are consistently inconsistent. Kyle Swenson, reporter at the Washington Post, joins us for more.

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Despite promises that people should not have to pay for getting sick with COVID-19, doctors are discovering costly long term health effects ranging from kidney failure to heart and lung damage and the question is whether health care providers and insurers will pay for the long term effects. In the meantime, many are being saddled with huge hospital bills. Susannah Luthi, healthcare reporter at Politico, joins us for the costs of treating COVID-19.

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It’s happening again. As we moved to reopen the country, cases are starting to surge and the demand for testing is increasing. But testing shortfalls are causing long lines in hard hit states such as Florida and Texas. Without a vaccine, testing has become the first line of defense and delays complicate everything. Emma Court, healthcare reporter at Bloomberg News, joins us for how testing is hitting a snag again.

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