Summer for many families in North Carolina is filled with beach weekends, getaways to the mountains, bountiful produce and other fun in the sun. But how much of that will be possible this season with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic?
I think outside is absolutely the way to go. ... And keeping the numbers smallish. Maybe don't have a giant family reunion, but have a picnic with some friends. - Lisa Gralinski
Public radio stations from across North Carolina joined forces to look into summer 2020 for “Our Pandemic Summer: A Statewide Special.” WUNC’s “The State of Things” host Frank Stasio interviews scientistLisa Gralinskiabout how COVID-19 responds to heat, water and other facets of summer life. Gralinski is an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at UNC-Chapel Hill.
The only people who can stop the [Republican National Convention] or curtail it is Governor Roy Cooper and Mandy Cohen, the Health and Human Services Secretary. The city is kind of powerless at this point. - Steve Harrison
WFAE’s “Charlotte Talks” host Mike Collins talks to WFAE political reporter Steve Harrison about how the pandemic may impact the Republican National Convention, scheduled to take place in Charlotte in August. And WUNC “The State of Things” host Anita Rao investigates how the coronavirus has changed things for our state’s migrant and seasonal farm workers with Aaron Sánchez-Guerra, a reporter for The News & Observer.
If one worker gets sick, it can threaten the whole camp, which has already been happening across a few of these farmworker camps in North Carolina. - Aaron Sanchez-Guerra
Plus, reporters from public radio stations WFDD in Winston-Salem, BPR in Asheville and WHQR in Wilmington share their reporting on the status of minor league baseball and summer camps in western North Carolina; summer festivals in the Triad and the restaurant industry in Wilmington.
