Tracking the Coronavirus Pandemic

On our final episode (for now), we examine an older public health crisis and the lessons it offers.

Which Politicians and Senior Officials Have the Coronavirus?

China and Russia are spreading their vaccines—and forging new ties—to some of Washington’s closest allies.

As the pandemic rages, China’s strategy is becoming more high-tech and sophisticated.

Switching from expensive, slow PCR tests to self-administered antigen tests could work wonders.

Other countries should prepare now for their own reformations.

We asked 12 leading thinkers to predict what happens in 2021 and beyond.

Lack of communication over surplus doses has prompted suspicion and anger.

From the pandemic to Black Lives Matter and the U.S. election, five articles from the year that changed everything.

Britain’s prime minister promised to take back control. When it comes to the coronavirus, he has lost it.

Citizens hungry for information turned to the media during the pandemic, but governments around the world used the crisis to restrict journalists.

Here are five of our best pieces on how East Asia handled the pandemic.

A look back at our best essays on the onset of the coronavirus.

We don't yet know whether new variants of the coronavirus may impede vaccines’ efficacy. But they shouldn’t change anything about our approach to public health.

The continent thought it had the coronavirus beat—and had its guard down when it mattered most.

With little known about whether the virus mutation will react differently to existing treatments, BioNTech’s CEO is optimistic.

The British government squandered the chance to contain the virus in hopes of economic recovery.

It could make 2021 the year Americans rediscover science.

Swedes can’t figure out their government’s coronavirus approach, a progressive push on U.S. foreign policy, and an honest assessment of the Arab Spring’s fallout.

Will 2021 be full of foreign-policy crises and domestic drama or dull compared to 2020?

The country’s contrarian approach to the COVID-19 pandemic was meant to prove that trust in authorities could avert lockdowns. Instead, mixed messaging and political squabbles have led to an exploding epidemic.

Picking the right statistics has been critical to handling—or botching—the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden’s landing teams are steering clear of an administration that has often served as a COVID-19 superspreader event.

EU member states find commonality in crisis, Afghans accuse donor countries of hypocrisy on corruption, and how Biden’s climate plans could shape energy markets.

The pandemic has the continent increasingly discussing its common boundaries—and common identity.

The U.S. secretary of state plans massive holiday gatherings, while department catering and event staff mostly lack employer health insurance.

Beijing’s COVID-19 response has been a success story, and the Communist Party wants to keep it that way.

The U.K.’s quick approval of the Pfizer vaccine means some Britons will get shots starting next week—but in the rest of the world, it’s going to take a while for regular people to get inoculated.

A move to dissolve parliament could mean a fourth ballot in less than two years.

To bring back jobs and make travel sustainable, Biden should reverse decades of neglect and reestablish a national U.S. tourism policy.

Individualism, regional divisions, and fragmented government authority have led the capital of Europe to fail where many poorer and less-connected countries have succeeded.

Not only is Trump attempting a coup, he’s trying to leave everything in flames for the Biden administration.

For too many Americans, disasters are things that happen to other people, never themselves.

Is it possible to have too many vaccines? We may soon find out.

At least 2,500 Mexicans in the United States, many of them essential workers, have died from COVID-19. Back home in Mexico, their grieving families are left without support.

Foreign-born doctors and entrepreneurs are at the forefront of fighting the pandemic and resuscitating economies, but nativist politicians still want to keep them out.

America’s democracy demotion, U.N. peacemaking in the age of plague, and Biden’s Putin challenge.

This is what an utter pandemic catastrophe looks like.

The world can’t repeat the mistakes of polio, tuberculosis, and measles.

With Sputnik V, the country is conflating good headlines with good health.

It spent early and spent big—and is now poised to reap the rewards.

A vaccine candidate closely linked with Operation Warp Speed is expected to produce preliminary results similar to the blockbuster Pfizer findings.

Data colonialism is rampant on the African continent. Smart regulation can stop it.

Why Switzerland became one of the world's worst coronavirus hotspots.

Even if the coronavirus treatment works as advertised, there are plenty of reasons to worry about how much good it can do.

Trump withdrew from the WHO. Biden can rebuild ties with the organization and make the United States an influential player in the fight against COVID-19.

Election chaos could be a boon for U.S. adversaries, what Europe’s anti-lockdown protesters really want, and musings on the state of the nation.

The continent’s second wave of the coronavirus has produced angry protests against state overreach—and new demands for state help.

The options are either an ineffective pandemic response—or an utterly catastrophic one.

Americans have no point of comparison for the coronavirus.

Good riddance to a superspreading coronavirus election campaign.

If Washington chooses to reengage with the world, it will need to first champion diversity and gender equality.

Coronavirus cases are spiking again in the country’s north, threatening to increase strain on public hospitals. This time, local governments face even more political pressure to lift restrictions.

But the structure of its comeback may create problems at home—and abroad.

From the Czech Republic and Germany to the Indian state of Kerala, governments that dealt decisively with the first wave of the coronavirus are drowning in the second wave.

In a new book, Fareed Zakaria draws some hard but unavoidable conclusions about dealing with future viruses.

Around the world, emergency powers are chipping away at democracy—sometimes with public support.

While Congress and the White House remain far apart on COVID-19 stimulus talks, some Democrats hope to restore lost U.S. prestige by adding foreign aid to the bill.

The coronavirus has hit Haredi enclaves hard, but without clear directives from rabbis, isolated communities from Jerusalem to New York will continue to suffer.

A history lesson on pandemics and their aftereffects, Putin becomes Pashinyan’s playmaker, and Selina Meyer humbles Donald Trump.

Pandemics are not always transformative events. While some worrying preexisting trends could accelerate, it’s incorrect to assume that the coronavirus will end globalization, kill liberal democracy, or enhance China’s soft power.

It’s time to add an uncontrolled outbreak to the country’s long list of woes.

In a new survey, international relations experts are pessimistic about the years to come.

And a rise in cyber-ransoms is the result. To stop the cycle, businesses should stop paying up.

A reality check about the foreign-policy implications of a sick president.

The mountainous country is the hardest-hit in the world, partly thanks to a critical lack of oxygen.

Will the same be true for Trump?

The four ways the president’s illness can complicate national security decision-making—or invite foreign attacks.

From socialism to the coronavirus, a unified theory for why everyone thinks Swedes have all the answers.

Trump’s physician expressed optimism about the president’s health after he tested positive for the coronavirus. But his hospitalization brings to light new questions on what happens if a worst-case scenario hits while Americans are casting their votes.

Just when the U.S. public needs clarity about Trump’s health, tradition and the president’s proclivities make that unlikely.

The president has treatment options for his coronavirus infection. None are very good.

Officials are warily watching for adversaries like Russia, Iran, and North Korea to exploit the moment.

The regime has restricted aid to those who fled Afrin in 2018, leaving them without test kits, basic supplies, or access to specialist care.

Those who used to scoff at its mismanagement should take note of Rome’s strategy for defeating COVID-19.

Immunization to COVID-19 is supposed to solve our problems—but it's starting to trigger even bigger ones.

Bibi succumbs to pressure from religious factions even as he imposes a second nationwide lockdown.

In Tanzania and elsewhere, the pandemic and creeping authoritarianism are colliding, making both problems far worse.

The vaccine partnership would help ensure equitable access to a COVID-19 vaccine—including in the United States—but Trump won’t participate.

Nine experts on the future of education after the pandemic.

Already one of the most unequal regions in the world, it may face an unprecedented rise in inequality and poverty due to the economic carnage of the pandemic.

With humanitarian aid and internet services restricted, the conflict-torn state could soon face a public health disaster.

If a vaccine comes out before the election, there are very good reasons not to take it.

Poor governance, disinformation, censorship, and punishing U.S. sanctions have turned a crisis into a disaster.

The nation was already on the economic brink before COVID-19 hit.

The Assad regime is suffering a massive outbreak—and burying the bodies in silence.

As mainstream denominations see their own outbreaks, Shincheonji members say they were unfairly targeted.

Eight voices on the future of entertainment, culture, and sports.

Health care success could inspire economic change, but the future still looks bleak.

From FP Analytics: A country-by-country assessment of government responses to the pandemic.

Washington has a golden opportunity to counter China’s gains.

Countries are too rich to access conventional aid, but they can’t cope by themselves.

Ulrich Beck was a prophet of uncertainty—and the most important intellectual for the pandemic and its aftermath.

A guide to understanding the science, and the politics, preventing U.S. children from being educated this year.

In India, education under lockdown and a deep digital divide threaten to undo real progress in rural areas.

A country that stopped the virus cold now faces an ominous second wave.

A look at how protests, political violence, and conflict have played out during the pandemic.

Despite the border with hard-hit Brazil, the coronavirus is well under control in the country.

The COVID-19 catastrophe is shrinking remittances from the United States and creating a looming humanitarian disaster.

As his poll numbers fall and coronavirus cases rise, the U.S. president needs a scapegoat—and he’s turning to his usual target, Mexico.

After a brief period of praising whistleblowers, Beijing is targeting medical staff and COVID-19 victims again.

The pandemic-fueled food shortage in Syria suggests the worst is yet to come in other conflict-riven countries around the world.