Martin Kaste

As states reopen under new social-distancing rules, the question of whether police should enforce these rules arises. But some say that it might hurt the police's relationship with the public.

As states re-open under new pandemic rules, enforcement often falls to the police. But some people — including some police — think that's a bad idea.

Police departments are facing a new reality in the era of coronavirus. As familiar categories of crime fade, officers are being asked to handle unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable new assignments.

Police and paramedics are at high risk of contracting COVID-19, and some say public health departments should help protect them by providing the addresses of people with the virus.

Public health experts say finding and isolating coronavirus patients will be key to reopening public life. That's going to take a lot of work.

States and hospitals aren't just counting on the federal government for personal protective equipment. They're wading into the import business themselves, sourcing their own supplies from China.

He was the unnamed doctor in his 40s reported to be clinging to life, one of the earliest cases of an American health care worker laid low by COVID-19. He says timely medical interventions saved him.

State has decided that other parts of the country need the 250-bed facility more, but the governor said this doesn't mean Washington is "out of the woods."

If crucial medical resources such as ventilators are in short supply, hospitals are supposed to follow ethics protocols to decide who gets treated. But those rules vary, and aren't always clear.

Many states are projected to have excessive demand for ventilator machines in the coming weeks, but no state government has formally asked hospitals to prepare for difficult and complex crisis triage.

Washington State reports dropping hospitalizations, and hospitals in San Francisco seeing less patient load than feared. But those facts require context.

NPR science, national and White House correspondents relay the latest updates in the United States response to the coronavirus epidemic.

Governors in New York and Washington have pointed to early signs that the increase of new coronavirus cases is flattening. How to look up — and interpret — the progress in your state.

What are the hospital and systems capacities in the three states hardest hit by the coronavirus? We go to our reporters in New York, California and Washington state.

The wave of critical patients is expected to arrive first at Seattle-area hospitals, which have spent recent weeks trying to shore up supplies of "staff and stuff." No one is sure they have enough.

Inmates and guards don't have the option of staying home during a coronavirus outbreak, so detention centers risk becoming "incubators" for the disease. Some are scrambling to mitigate the risk.

Hospitals are clearing space and preparing staff for a possible crush of patients needing critical care.

Most people with the coronavirus get only mild symptoms, but some need intensive care. If the wave of infections is big enough, the very sick patients could swamp hospital intensive care units.

There is growing concern about vulnerability to illness in nursing homes after several residents of a nursing facility near Seattle died of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus disease.

The first U.S. death related to COVID-19 has been reported in Washington state. Officials are also investigating a reported case in a health worker and a possible outbreak in a nursing facility.