Nurith Aizenman

Nine months after the first reported fatality in China last January, the world has hit a sobering milestone.

The world is nearing a million deaths from COVID-19 — with almost every nation having lost people to the disease. And in the five countries hit badly by the pandemic, the trend remains worrisome.

The betterment of childhood vaccination rates has been a global success story. A new report on the impact of the pandemic offers reason for concern — and optimism.

The forecast comes from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. But here's why some other disease specialists are highly skeptical.

The results are in from a Nobel prize winner's landmark study of a deworming program. He finds the impact is immense. But the idea still gets mixed reviews

An inexpensive way to help kids in poor countries: hand out deworming pills so they're healthy enough to stay in school. A study by a Nobel Prize winner finds 20 years on, they earn higher wages too.

What's driving this death toll? Could anything improve the outlook? How reliable are these predictions anyway? We get into the weeds.

A team at the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now projects the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 will reach nearly 300,000 by December.

The coronavirus outbreak is getting worse in many parts of the country, and the U.S. will likely need to learn to cope with having the virus be a part of life for many more months.

Renee Bach ran a treatment center for severely malnourished children in Uganda. Over five years, 105 died. This week, a lawsuit by two mothers who each lost a son was settled with a cash payment.

As modelers look at national trends, they're concerned about case jumps in areas that had previously managed largely to squelch the virus.

Forecasters say the coronavirus outbreaks across the South have been seeding a resurgence in the Northeast. Consequences could be severe unless the Northeast steps up social distancing immediately.

How can communities stop coronavirus case surges without crushing the economy? Some scientists say widespread mask wearing may be more than a helpful precaution — it may the solution.

How much could coronavirus infections be curbed through mandatory masking, better testing and tracing, and other measures short of a return to full lockdown? Here's what mathematical models tell us.

The concerns range from condescending attitudes toward people of color to inequities of pay between international and local workers. The aid group's leaders have pledged to address the issues.

More than 1,000 current and former staffers of Doctors Without Borders have signed a letter calling on the vaunted aid group to root out pervasive institutional racism within the organization.

Local data reveal a deeper picture of where the current hot spots are in the United States — and where new ones could surface.

As coronavirus cases surge across the U.S., NPR discusses the metrics that identify which states, counties and cities are facing the biggest challenges now — and which could be future hotspots.

The nation still sees more than 20,000 new cases on average a day, a number that's barely budged for weeks. Forecasters say we're looking at tens of thousands more deaths this summer.

The nationwide demonstrations have caused concerns about a possible surge in the coronavirus cases. It would depend on how well everyone sticks to practices that keep the virus in check.