How Bainbridge Island’s Medical Reserve Corp is making sure not a single dose goes to waste — The early morning drizzle stopped just as Loren Bast parked his car outside the senior community center on Bainbridge Island in Washington state on a Friday in late January. He strode purposefully inside and put on a reflective blue vest over his maroon jacket. Bast, the executive director of Bainbridge…

Roxanna Yazzie works long hours to keep her community safe from Covid-19 — Even in winter, when temperatures drop to below freezing and the dirt roads are coated in snow or ice, Roxanna Yazzie slings her clinic badge over her down jacket, pulls up the hood of her green jacket, and makes for work.

Some men say Covid-19 is hitting them below the belt — When Steven Bell caught Covid-19 this spring, he was surprised that he didn’t have a fever. Rather, it felt like a bad sinus infection. Soon, he lost his sense of smell, and went on to develop insomnia. He felt like the virus was also affecting his circulation, and would swing…

‘The world owes him some gratitude, but he was not pleasant’ — Every day, hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of molecular reactions are happening in laboratories worldwide. Small droplets of liquid that give us a lens into an individual’s respiratory pathways are analyzed for whether or not they contain the pathogen of the year: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes…

At the end of June, when I was assessing my finances, I was completely shocked to see that I had basically hit my target income already. That must be a fluke, right? But it wasn’t. My trusty Google Sheets had the right formula, and I double checked to make sure…

Lessons from the Covid-19 frontlines through the eyes of Dr. Craig Spencer — This story is part of Six Months In, a special weeklong Elemental series reflecting on where we’ve been, what we’ve learned, and what the future holds for the Covid-19 pandemic. Around six months ago, New York City was seeing its highest caseload of Covid-19 cases yet. Emergency rooms in the…

Immunologist and new mother Megan O’Connor works nonstop to help her team move their Covid-19 vaccine forward — Around mid-March, when the novel coronavirus was beginning to make its way through the U.S., Megan O’Connor had just returned to work after six months of maternity leave. Even in the weeks after she had her baby daughter, O’Connor, an immunologist, hadn’t stopped working. “Science doesn’t stop just because you…

Science explains why there’s a loss of human compassion during pandemics — Since Washington state, where I live, instated its stay-at-home order over 100 days ago, I’ve noticed a number of changes in my behavior. First, the novelty of the Zoom hangouts wore off, and I found connecting with friends and family over video chat left me feeling more drained than fulfilled…

In cities across the U.S. — from Seattle to Austin, Asheville, and Denver — medics say they are dealing with police altercations while trying to render aid — On Saturday, May 30, in Seattle, Washington, Alex* stood next to the police as civilians protested against the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and other Black people at the hands of law enforcement. It was late in the afternoon and the rain was starting to come. Tensions in the…