Ongoing COVID-19 coverage is presented in part by Transforming Health–a project examining the future of health in America and in Central Pennsylvania. Transforming Health is an educational partnership of WITF, WellSpan Health and Capital BlueCross.
Here With You: COVID-19 stories
Watch our video series highlighting stories from members of our community. If you are interested in sharing your story, email Keira McGuire.
Help us walk to the moon and back! Transforming Health‘s To the Moon & Back Walking Challenge is a free, 12-week community challenge designed to promote wellness by walking in honor of those on the frontline of the COVID-19 crisis.
Health news
-
Charlotte Fu
School attendance in the COVID era: What counts as ‘present’?
The emerging questions for educators and parents are: What is the best way to measure whether students are participating in learning? And who will be held responsible for a student who doesn’t participate? The student? Their caregiver? The school?By Anya Kamenetz/NPR -
Stacy Kranitz
‘Desperation and fear’ for millions with Congress deadlocked over pandemic assistance
An NPR poll finds 19% of Americans say they are having “serious problems” paying their rent or mortgage, and 11% have fallen behind. Latino and African American households are twice as likely to be behind as white families.By Chris Arnold/NPR -
Ted S. Warren
The coronavirus vaccine-distribution planning that wasn’t
Philadelphia is no longer part of a pilot program to help develop the nation’s coronavirus vaccine distribution plan.By Nina Feldman/WHYY -
Eman Mohammed
How the COVID-19 alert apps work
The hope is these apps will help with contact tracing, which up until now has relied on locating people who come into contact with someone else who tests positive for the virus.By Alan Yu/WHYY -
Dan Nott
Pa.’s failure to mandate quicker death reporting before the coronavirus fueled wild data fluctuations, mistrust
An investigation found state health officials abandoned their urgency in implementing a faster process, leaving them ill-prepared to accurately report death data when the pandemic arrived.
By Sara Simon/Spotlight PA, Ryan Briggs/WHYY and Nina Feldman/WHYY -
John Minchillo
Trump administration plans to punish hospitals that fail to report COVID-19 data
It’s the latest twist in what hospitals describe as a maddening flurry of changing requirements, as they deal with the strain of caring for patients during a pandemic.
By Selena Simmons-Duffin and Pien Huang/NPR -
Matt Rourke
As pandemic deaths add up, racial disparities persist — and in some cases worsen
Researchers who have been tracking racial disparities in COVID-19 outcomes since early in the pandemic say these trends are now impossible to ignore.
By Daniel Wood/NPR -
Rachel McDevitt
Grant provides free trauma screening in Lebanon County
Several social services groups will train counselors on diagnosing and treating trauma-related mental health issues.By Alanna Elder -
Eman Mohammed
A tech powerhouse, U.S. lags in using smartphones for contact tracing
Smartphones have the potential to be a powerful tool in tracking the spread of COVID-19. They can tell you exactly how close you’ve been to other people, for how long and keep a detailed log of everyone you’ve been around for the last 14 days. Linked to testing systems, they can rapidly alert you if someone you’ve been in contact with tests positive.By Jason Beaubien/NPR -
Go Nakamura/Getty Images
America’s 200,000 COVID-19 deaths: Small cities and towns bear a growing share
The U.S. has now doubled its COVID-19 death count to top 200,000 victims, and Hidalgo County in Texas has become one of the deadliest hot spots for COVID-19.
By Sean McMinn, Ruth Talbot, and Jess Eng/NPR -
Min Xian
Penn State COVID-19 cases up nearly 300 as Centre County cases pass 2,000
The latest date from the state Health Department brings the total number of cases to 1,665 students at University Park.
