As the U.S. starts to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, experts say we’ll need to track everyone who has come in contact with a COVID-19 patient to stop new chains of infection. By some estimates, we’ll need 300,000 contact tracers across the country — and we reportedly have fewer than 8,000. In this episode of PODCAST-19, we’ll hear from Susie Welty, an epidemiologist who’s training a new workforce of contact tracers in San Francisco. We’ll also talk to FiveThirtyEight’s senior science writer, Maggie Koerth, who delves into the mystery of why more men than women are dying of COVID-19. And, finally, we’ll discuss a new test for COVID-19 that you might one day be able to take in the privacy of your own home.
Don’t want to miss an episode of PODCAST-19, FiveThirtyEight’s weekly look at what we know — and what we know we don’t know — about COVID-19? Subscribe on your favorite podcasting app! For example, here’s where to do it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.