Seattle air quality worsens by 30 points in 30 minutes as smoky haze descends Seattle's air index quality has reached an unhealthy level for sensitive groups as hot temperatures and smoky skies loom over Puget Sound. Noel Gasca
How To Deal With Renewed COVID Anxiety America's approach to tackling the contagious delta variant has dramatically shifted. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with Dr. Lucy McBride about the emotional whiplash many in the U.S. are feeling now. Courtney Dorning
Coping With The Reality Of Climate Change NPR's Audie Cornish speaks with psychologist Elke Weber about the way individuals deal with the threat of climate change. Amy Isackson
Mississippi's Hospital System Could Collapse Within 10 Days Under COVID's Strain COVID-19 cases are overwhelming the South. Arkansas set a record for hospitalizations, while officials in one Florida county are urging residents to "consider other options" before calling 911. Rachel Treisman
Nearly 300,000 More Federal Health Workers Are Ordered To Be Vaccinated The Department of Health and Human Services will require nearly a third of its employees to get the COVID-19 vaccine while the Department of Veterans Affairs expanded its vaccination mandate. Deepa Shivaram
Seattle opens dozens of cooling centers ahead of another heat wave The heat this week won’t be anywhere near what the Pacific Northwest saw in June. Still, with temperatures forecasted to be in the mid-90s, cooling centers have reopened all over town for people to get out of the heat. Casey Martin
Fauci Says COVID-19 Booster Shots Are Needed For Those Who Are Immunocompromised Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, tells NPR's Morning Edition "it is so imminent that we get them boosted so that they would be in a protected zone." Scott Neuman
From Free Pizza To Free Tuition, Colleges Try Everything To Get Students Vaccinated U.S. colleges are counting on high COVID-19 vaccination rates to keep their campuses safe this fall. Many are offering flashy prizes to encourage students and faculty to get their shots. Sneha Dey
The Delta Variant Causes Many Concerns For The Battle Against COVID-19 NPR's Noel King talks to Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, about booster shots, vaccine equity among countries and what schools can do to start the academic year safely.
90% Of Florida's Intensive Care Beds Are Taken As COVID-19 Spreads NPR's Debbie Elliott talks to Tampa-based epidemiologist Dr. Vincent Hsu about the state's strained health care resources amid a new surge of coronavirus cases. He says it's the worse it's ever been.