What we're reading
Every day, we share what we're reading, listening to, and watching in the world of global health — from well-reported news articles and in-depth studies to timely podcast episodes and features
Latest
Special Report: How Korea trounced U.S. in race to test people for coronavirus
South Korea’s swift action stands in stark contrast to what has transpired in the United States. The Koreans have tested well over 290,000 people...
WHO to launch multinational trial to jumpstart search for coronavirus drugs
The WHO said it would launch a multiarm, multicountry clinical trial for potential coronavirus therapies, part of an aggressive effort to jumpstart...
South Asia Reads: Coronavirus Edition
An update on developments in each South Asian country, from Afghanistan to Sri Lanka, regarding the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19)
These Places Could Run Out of Hospital Beds as Coronavirus Spreads
New Harvard analysis shows that many parts of the United States will have far too few hospital beds if the new coronavirus continues to spread widely
Coronavirus Crises Loom in Africa as Cases Spread
Thirty of fifty-four countries in Africa have reported the presence of COVID-19, and the list is likely incomplete.
The Plague Years
How a rise in nationalist politics is causing countries to turn inward, harden borders, distrust outsiders, and may be jeopardizing the world's health
‘The disruption is enormous.’ Coronavirus epidemic snarls science worldwide
Universities across the country remain closed; access to labs is restricted, projects mothballed, fieldwork interrupted, and travel severely curtailed
The Epidemic of Despair / Will America’s Mortality Crisis Spread to the Rest of the World?
Since the mid-1990s, the U.S. has been suffering from an epidemic of “deaths of despair”—caused by drug overdose, alcoholic liver disease, or suicide
Sugary Drink Consumption Plunges in Chile After New Food Law
Four years after Chile embraced the world’s most sweeping measures to combat mounting obesity, a partial verdict on their effectiveness is in…
Why Does the Indian State Both Fail and Succeed?
The most striking fact about the Indian state is how varied its performance has been... from woefully inadequate to surprisingly impressive
Understanding pandemics: What they mean, don’t mean, and what comes next with the coronavirus
... But what is a pandemic? And if efforts like the quarantining of returning travelers cannot stop spread of the virus, what will?
The Proximal Origin of SARS-CoV-2
SARS-CoV-2 is the 7th Coronavirus known to infect people. Now genetic analyses reveal it is optimized for binding to ACE2 receptors in the human lung.