Month: April 2021

The number of Covid-19 cases has dropped in most states from January highs while vaccination distribution has picked up, but life in most of the U.S. isn’t back to normal. Americans went out less in January, February and early March compared with the same period in 2020, before the Covid-19 pandemic forced state lockdowns. The number of times people spent 10 minutes or more away from home was down 6% across the U.S., according to data from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics. In some states, including Mississippi, Alabama and the Dakotas, people ventured out at almost the same rate they did in early 2020. Foot-traffic data analyzed by The Wall Street Journal show that many people have returned to restaurants but are far less enthusiastic about movie theaters. Few...

Grace Heejung Kim for NPR Grace Heejung Kim for NPR Zoom meetings. Virtual happy hours. Facetime dates. We've been living in a pandemic world for over a year now, and for better or worse, many of us are used to our new social routines. But as vaccinations ramp up and restrictions begin to loosen across the country, the new question is: Are we ready? After so much time apart, do we even know how to socialize in-person anymore? We haven't returned to "normal" yet, but it feels like things are beginning to shift: we can almost hear the backyard barbecues; the cubicle-to-cubicl...

Cases have been surging in the state over the past month. April 3, 2021, 11:25 PM • 5 min read Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this article Michigan has reported its highest number of new daily COVID-19 cases since early December, as the state is in the midst of a coronavirus surge. On Saturday, the state health department reported 8,413 new COVID-19 cases. That compares to 1,536 new cases reported one month ago, on March 3. Cases have been rapidly increasing over the past month, with Michigan now experiencing the "most severe surge of viral spread in the nation," according to the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. Hospitalizations are also up, particularly among young adults. From March 1 to March 23, hospitalizations increased by 633% for adults ages 30 to ...