Yuki Noguchi

Mask mandates are going away around the country, so shops and restaurants are developing their own policies based on personal choice and risk tolerance.

For some people, getting a positive coronavirus test could mean loss of income or other life disruptions. Doctors worry about growing disincentives to test and how this could prolong the pandemic.

Amid a surge in omicron cases and hospitalizations, public health leaders are grappling with how to get a tuned-out public to pay attention. Experts urge communicators to cut through the noise.

As COVID cases surge, many Americans are tuning out the pandemic. Public health messages and guidance are running into widespread indifference and disengagement.

Rapid tests for COVID-19 are proving difficult to find both for local governments and individuals. The Biden administration says relief is on the way. But what's behind the supply challenges?

A ban on using telemedicine to prescribe controlled medications was suspended in the pandemic. That's allowed many to seek opioid addiction treatment, but some worry about potential for abuse.

Many public health experts are pushing for stronger measures than the Biden administration and governors are willing to take to reduce impacts from the growing omicron wave. Why the disconnect?

The Biden administration's moves to increase the availability of at-home COVID tests may help refill store shelves. There are concerns about the ability to supply and carry out other forms of testing.

The run on at-home COVID tests highlights some of the country's desperation in getting critical testing capacity up to speed. There are potentially some other roadblocks with other forms of testing.

With a fast-growing winter surge upon us, self-testing kits remain expensive and hard to find. The reasons go back to the approach the U.S. took from the outset in developing tests.

By 2022, the vast majority of employers had plans to start returning remote workers to the offices. Omicron changed that, and it may also make vaccine mandates more likely and more popular.

State rules were temporarily loosened in 2020 to help patients get care outside a doctor's office. But is telehealth by phone safe and effective? State legislatures and insurers must soon decide.

Telehealth services were important during the pandemic. Rules that permitted its growth are in flux, as state and federal governments and insurance providers weigh which policies to keep in place.

Across the country, hospitals are desperate for RNs and specialty nurses. Yet, paradoxically, the nursing pipeline has slowed, with educators retiring or returning to clinical work themselves.

Hospitals are in dire need of nurses. There's often 800 people applying to community college nursing programs offering 50 slots. One main reason is that there aren't enough people to teach nursing.

An NPR poll finds that while a large majority of people using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits. That may foretell telehealth's future.

New poll data shows that while a large majority of those using telehealth during the pandemic were satisfied, nearly two-thirds prefer in-person visits, in an indicator of the future of telehealth.

The pandemic has intensified burnout among health care workers. They say it's eroding their passion for the job and the quality of patient care. Here's how some of them are trying to solve it.

New data shows the pandemic exacerbated an already fast-growing problem, tipping more Americans' weight over the scales into unhealthy territory.

A report based on new CDC data showed 16 states now report obesity rates of 35% or higher. That increased by four states in just a year. And those rates are rising faster among racial minorities.