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Disease

Health care workers at Stanford and the University of Massachusetts who have placed smiling portraits of themselves on the outside of their protective gear

Covid-19

Portrait Project Reveals the Faces Behind Health Care Workers’ Protective Gear

Doctors and nurses are attaching smiling photos of themselves to the outside of their protective gear to maintain connections with patients

Though much has changed since 1918, the sentiments shared in writings from this earlier pandemic are likely to resonate with modern readers.

Covid-19

What We Can Learn From 1918 Influenza Diaries

These letters and journals offer insights on how to record one’s thoughts amid a pandemic

Times Square stands largely empty on March 22.

Covid-19

As COVID-19 Reshapes the World, Cultural Institutions Collect Oral Histories

Universities, libraries and museums are among the organizations seeking personal stories about the pandemic’s effects on daily life

A nurse conducts a swab test for SARS-CoV-2 in Chessington, England.

Covid-19

Breaking Down the Two Tests That Could Help Contain the COVID-19 Pandemic

One detects an active infection; another signals that the virus has already left the body. Both are critical for tracking the spread of disease

Can you become immune to SARS-CoV-2?

Covid-19

What Scientists Know About Immunity to the Novel Coronavirus

Though COVID-19 likely makes recovered patients immune, experts aren’t sure how long protection lasts

People cross Park Avenue after it was announced that some streets will be closed off as lockdown continues in response to the coronavirus outbreak on March 27, 2020 in New York City.

Covid-19

How—and When—Will the COVID-19 Pandemic End?

Americans have some time before social distancing measures can let up—and every day counts

According to traditional Japanese folklore, Amabie predicts good harvests and protect against disease.

Covid-19

Amid Pandemic, Artists Invoke Japanese Spirit Said to Protect Against Disease

Illustrators are sharing artwork of Amabie, a spirit first popularized during the Edo period, on social media

With pyramids closed to visitors, workers are deep cleaning the structures.

Covid-19

Amid COVID-19 Closures, Egypt Sanitizes the Giza Pyramids

The country has shut down its museums and archaeological sites in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus

The Baldwins' home was reconstructed in 1966 and is now a museum showcasing the missionary's life in the mid-1800s.

Archaeologists Unearth Remnants of Kitchen Behind Oldest House Still Standing in Maui

The missionary who lived in the house during the mid-1800s delivered vaccinations to locals during a smallpox epidemic

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Covid-19

Covid-19

Providing historical context and scientific evidence as the pandemic unfolds

A protestor on Maui

Shutting Down Hawai‘i: A Historical Perspective on Epidemics in the Islands

A museum director looks to the past to explain why ‘Aloha’ is as necessary as ever

Pohl emphasized that killing rats was a civic duty, telling the Oregonian that “everyone in the city, rich and poor, should consider it his duty to exterminate rats.”

Women Who Shaped History

The Pioneering Health Officer Who Saved Portland From the Plague

Tasked with curbing a 1907 outbreak, Esther Pohl emphasized the importance of clean, vermin-free environments

The tobacco mosaic virus seen under 160,000× magnification

Covid-19

How a Few Sick Tobacco Plants Led Scientists to Unravel the Truth About Viruses

With the COVID-19 coronavirus causing a global pandemic, a look back at the scientists who figured out viruses and their relationship to disease

Warmer weather can bring blooms. But don't expect it to resolve the COVID-19 pandemic on its own.

Covid-19

Why Warmer Weather Probably Won’t Stop COVID-19

Yes, most infectious diseases are seasonal. But waiting for COVID-19 to wane on its own is a bad idea

Restoration work at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris has paused as France works to control the spread of COVID-19.

Covid-19

Notre-Dame Restoration Pauses Amid France’s Two-Week Lockdown

Lead decontamination policies enacted in August are now in conflict with measures to prevent spread of COVID-19

Covid-19

These Graphics Help Explain Why Social Distancing Is Critical

The positive outcomes won’t be immediately apparent, but will help reduce the strain on our healthcare system

Some stores have implemented special shopping hours for senior people and immunocompromised individuals.

Covid-19

Stores Launch Special Shopping Times for Seniors and Other Groups Vulnerable to COVID-19

But will that keep susceptible populations safe?

A team photo of the 1919 team that won the Pacific Coast Hockey Association championship

Covid-19

When the Stanley Cup Final Was Canceled Because of a Pandemic

In 1919, a second wave of cases of the previous year’s flu lead to the sudden death of the hockey championship

A ward at the Mare Island Naval Hospital in California during the influenza epidemic, November 1918

The Next Pandemic

Ten Myths About the 1918 Flu Pandemic

The ‘greatest pandemic in history’ was 100 years ago – but many of us still get the basic facts wrong

A view of the deserted courtyard outside the closed Louvre

Covid-19

How COVID-19 Is Affecting the Cultural World

Museum closures and event cancellations abound as officials rush to contain the new coronavirus’ spread

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