Health

On CNN over the weekend, Dr. Anthony Fauci brought up some frightening numbers, including that the country can expect 100,000-200,000 deaths due to COVID-19. Proportionally, that would mean between 3,000-6,000 people would die in North Carolina.

But right now, the most important number here is hospitalizations. DHHS puts that number at 137 currently, and it's very likely to go up. Way up.

We talk with Rose Hoban, the editor and founder of North Carolina Health News, about what numbers to watch, as well as the potential for a "bomb of infection" waiting to go off in the state's prisons and jails.

The United States has overtaken China, Italy, and every other country in the world in the number of documented COVID-19 cases. It's a dubious and troubling honor, to be sure. And it caps a week unlike any before it, around the globe and here in North Carolina.

On a day when Governor Roy Cooper issues a statewide stay-at-home order, host Dave DeWitt speaks Rose Hoban, editor of North Carolina Health News, about how we will know when the curve is starting to flatten in the state.

A solid eight hours can be hard to come by in our non-stop, tech-saturated world. But the modern science of sleep shows that shut-eye is just as critical as diet and exercise in shaping both mental and physical health.

Today: Treatment.

Duke University Hospital has announced it is part of the first national study of a drug the World Health Organization has called "the only drug right now that we think may have real efficacy" to treat COVID-19.

That drug is Remdesivir. It was first developed at UNC-Chapel Hill's Gillings School of Global Public Health.

WUNC reporter Jay Price speaks to Dr. Cameron Wolfe, associate professor of medicine at Duke University and the lead investigator in the new study, about the Remdesivir trial and its prospects for treating COVID-19.

While North Carolina politicians ponder their role in the pandemic response, healthcare workers know they will be the first responders no matter what. That is why hospitals are pleading that state and local governments order people to shelter-in-place. 

Today: Home.

Earlier today, Durham Mayor Steve Schewel issued a stay-at-home order for his city. A flurry of other counties and cities have issued similar orders in the past 24 hours.

But areas of our state are not being affected by Covid-19 in equal amounts. More than three dozen counties have no reported cases at all. So should the same rules apply to all of them?

We talk about that and more with Rose Hoban, the editor of North Carolina Health News.

Today: Decisions.

The number of personal decisions we are making every day has probably shrunk. We're driving less, not packing our kids' lunches, and eating out less. But the decisions we are making have likely taken on a whole lot more significance.

On this episode of Tested, we look at the current decisions being made by state leaders like Governor Roy Cooper and the past choices made by the General Assembly, and what impact those policies might be having on how the coronavirus pandemic is playing out in North Carolina.

Nothing changes your life like the addition of a child. Suddenly, there are so many new things to consider for a tiny human whose brain works in really mysterious ways. 

Meet host Dave DeWitt on a quick guided tour of what to expect from WUNC's first-ever daily podcast.

As the number of coronavirus cases climbs, hospitals in North Carolina are preparing for the worst – and so are the doctors, nurses, and everyone else in the health care system.

WUNC's Dave DeWitt chats with Rose Hoban, founder of North Carolina Health News, about the strain being felt by hospitals and health care workers, as they prepare for a possible tsunami of COVID-19 patients.

Many people learn the basics in sex education classes — how men and women procreate and how to avoid contracting sexually transmitted infections. However, the science of sex goes well beyond basic textbook diagrams. In recent decades, researchers have developed a deeper understanding of the interplay between our brains and our bodies and about the mechanics of sexual desire.

How is the coronavirus pandemic changing your life? North Carolinians share their stories of how this outbreak is affecting all facets of their calendar day, from canceled weddings to closed businesses to concerns about elderly relatives and neighbors. 

Coronavirus testing is ramping up in North Carolina and across the country. But it still lags behind almost every other developed country in the world.

Thousands of tests are still in the pipeline here in the state. That number will jump considerably, as local health departments, doctor offices, academic medical centers and others ramp up their own testing sites.