Coronavirus

Covid Caused Cities to Rework Rules for Restaurants. Which Changes Will Stick?

Over the past year, cities have taken action that’s ranged from streamlining permits for outdoor dining, to providing benches for restaurants to use for seating.

  • By Andrea Noble

Baltimore is Latest City to Cap Delivery App Fees Paid by Restaurants

Other cities have enacted similar policies, meant to help restaurants struggling during the pandemic. At least one delivery app company has responded with a new customer surcharge.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

‘We’re Not Controlling It in Our Schools’: Covid Safety Lapses Abound Across U.S.

An analysis found more than 780 covid-related complaints covering more than 2,000 public and private K-12 schools. The pleas likely represent only a small portion of the problems.

  • By Laura Ungar, Kaiser Health News

Public Health Systems Still Aren’t Ready for the Next Pandemic

The coronavirus outbreak has highlighted longstanding problems with neglect and underfunding of the nation’s public health system by all levels of government.

  • By Christine Vestal and Michael Ollove, Stateline

Biden Announces Covid Vaccine Surge to States

States will see more doses of the vaccine beginning next week and greater transparency about future shipments under the administration’s plan.

  • By Andrea Noble

Why COVID-19 Won’t Kill Cities

COMMENTARY | Two scholars who study cities explain why they think urban areas will endure—even if they don’t get aid from Congress.

  • By John Rennie Short and Michael J. Orlando, The Conversation

The Cities That Finished Last Year With Steep Declines in Rent Prices

Data shows rents fell in cities known for high housing costs, and ticked up in some nearby areas and mid-sized markets.

  • By Bill Lucia

Covid Response and Budget Basics at Forefront for States

State governments are in a better financial position than initially thought, but pandemic-related initiatives will likely take up most of their time and resources this year, with more innovative lawmaking taking a backseat, experts said.

  • By Andrea Noble

Anti-Vaccine Activists Peddle Theories That Covid Shots Are Deadly, Undermining Vaccination

"If an anti-vaccine group uses a single case, where no link has been proven, to discourage people from vaccination, that’s terrible."

  • By Liz Szabo, Kaiser Health News

Surgeon General Nominee: Time to Rebuild Local Health Departments

"We cannot afford to be caught in the same position we are in now, with an infrastructure that is fragmented, with data systems that don't talk to each other, with personnel that are overtaxed."

  • By Bill Lucia

Ski Patrol Before Teachers? States Criticized Over Vaccine Timelines

State officials chose which groups are next in line for coronavirus vaccines. Now some are facing criticism over who they prioritized.

  • By Andrea Noble

Lawmakers Move to Strip Governors’ Emergency Powers

In at least half the states, Republicans and some Democrats have proposed limiting their governor’s emergency powers in some way during the pandemic.

  • By Sophie Quinton, Stateline
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Liaisons to Each State, Full National Guard Reimbursement Are Part of Biden's Virus Response Plan

On his second day in office, President Joe Biden outlined a wide-ranging coronavirus response strategy, shifting toward a more national approach than the Trump administration's.

  • By Bill Lucia

These Are the Safest States To Ride Out the Pandemic

Your best bet for avoiding coronavirus may be to head north.

  • By Tom Shoop

Dallas County Axes Plan to Prioritize Vaccinating Communities of Color After State Threatens to Slash Allocation

State officials told Dallas leadership the plan was "not acceptable," and threatened to cut the county's vaccine supply.

  • By Juan Pablo Garnham and Emma Platoff, The Texas Tribune

Some Health Care Workers Refuse Covid Vaccine

One survey found 15% of health care workers who were offered a coronavirus vaccine didn't want it.

  • By Andrea Noble

With Fewer Resources, Rural America Tackles Vaccine Distribution

Rural clinics face unique challenges in connecting perishable vaccines with residents who often live miles away.

  • By Elizabeth Miller, Undark

The Pandemic is Hurting Child Care. Parents are Paying the Price.

About 700,000 parents left their jobs to care for their kids after child care centers closed, according to a recent analysis.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

Cities and Counties Honor Lives Lost to Covid-19

Communities across the country participated Tuesday in a national Covid-19 memorial, while others have erected more permanent reminders of those who have died during the pandemic.

  • By Kate Elizabeth Queram

America’s Most Reliable Pandemic Data Are Now at Risk

The Biden administration has to make a choice: Should it undo a vital system that Trump’s health department created?

  • By Alexis C. Madrigal, The Atlantic

Treasury Nominee Voices Support for State and Local Relief Funding

Janet Yellen also said during a confirmation hearing that a cap on the federal deduction for state and local tax payments should be studied more before any changes are made to the policy.

  • By Andrea Noble