Blake Farmer

Hospitalizations are down 62% for childhood respiratory illnesses, a study shows. Masking and physical distancing are keeping a variety of viruses in check, but will these behaviors last?

Once Pfizer's vaccine gets delivered, it's up to individual states to actually get people vaccinated. States have different priorities and plans.

Many are worried that Labor Day will be like the Fourth of July and Memorial Day, when travel and celebrations fanned the flames of viral spread, especially across the U.S. South and West.

The rare migratory birds have made a pit stop in downtown Nashville. Residents are delighted, turning out at dusk to catch a glimpse of the Purple Martins before they head south for winter.

Congress required health plans to fully cover COVID-19 testing, but insurance companies say they should only have to pay if tests are "medically necessary" or ordered by a doctor.

Nationwide coronavirus infection numbers are trending down, but several states are seeing upticks, including California and in the South. In the Northeast, things are looking up as infections fall.

As states move on from social distancing, they need plenty of coronavirus testing to prevent future outbreaks. But many communities face testing bottlenecks. Tennessee has a solution.

Only a few states have enough tests to ensure safe reopening. Most of those have a small population or have taken up unique approaches. The state of Tennessee has decided to pay for every single test.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with WPLN's Blake Farmer from Nashville and KCUR's Peggy Lowe from Kansas City about how nursing homes are dealing with deadly outbreaks of COVID-19.

The coronavirus doesn't discriminate in who it infects. But some doctors say the U.S. health care system's pandemic response is already showing familiar patterns of bias.