Matthew Ferrari is an epidemiologist and associate professor of biology at Penn State who studies infectious diseases and how they spread across populations. He uses mathematical and statistical tools to understand patterns of disease incidence. He talked with WPSU's Cheraine Stanford about the new coronavirus, what we know, what we don’t and what it means for our community and our country.

On this Take Note, we talked about public health messaging, specifically how the U.S. government has communicated about and reacted to the coronavirus outbreak. Also, how dealing with a pandemic is different in a democracy than in an authoritarian country. Our guest was Nita Bharti, an assistant professor of biology and the Lloyd Huck Early Career Professor in the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences at Penn State. This interview is from the Democracy Works podcast, a collaboration between WPSU and the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. TRANSCRIPT: Jenna Spinelle: This is Jenna Spinelle here today with Nita Bharti. Nita, thanks for joining us on Democracy Works. Nita Bharti: It's my pleasure. Thanks Jenna. Spinelle: We are going to talk today in the midst of the corona virus outbreak about the relationship between information, government and the public in the midst of an outbreak. That's a complex topic. We're going to kind of come at it from a couple of different angles

Through a program called “Feed the Soul,” hospital workers across North Carolina are receiving deliveries of nutritious meals as they respond to growing needs to treat COVID-19 patients. The program also supports local restaurants seeing a slowdown in business. The meal deliveries are made possible by contributions made to an emergency response fund created by the North Carolina Healthcare Foundation ( NCHF ), a nonprofit charitable organization. To date, the program has delivered more than 10,000 meals to staff at 13 hospitals in Asheville, Charlotte, Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill. The program is now expanding to Greenville and Wilmington in eastern North Carolina. North Carolina has more than 200,000 hospital workers, many of whom are appreciating the delicious and nutritious meals prepared by local restaurants. “While most of us are staying home to eat meals due to social distancing, hospital employees are working around-the-clock to care for growing numbers of coronavirus

On Tuesday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper signed Executive Order No. 138 that implements phase one of easing restrictions. The order takes effect Friday, May 8th at 5pm. The governor said the modification to the statewide stay at home order will allow some businesses to reopen. “Retail stores will now be allowed to increase to 50% capacity as long as they can implement social distancing and frequent cleaning,” said Cooper. “The order allows people to leave home to visit any business that is open and it encourages parks and trails to reopen.” However, businesses like salons, barbers, theaters, gyms, and bars will remain closed for phase one. The governor said church services can resume as long as they are held outdoors and social distancing measures are practiced. “COVID-19 is still a serious threat to our state, and Phase 1 is designed to be a limited easing of restrictions that can boost parts of our economy while keeping important safety rules in place,” said Cooper.

Three counties on North Carolina's tourist-reliant Outer Banks have announced plans to lift coronavirus-related visitor restrictions. Officials in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties released a joint statement on Wednesday announcing restrictions on entry for visitors will be lifted at noon on Saturday, May 16. According to the statement, reopening to visitors on that date will allow local businesses, attractions, and accommodation providers time to follow the new business operating requirements put in place by Gov. Roy Cooper's executive order. Officials are also reminding potential visitors to observe restrictions such as social distancing because the pandemic is not over.

Thursday, June 25, 2015, at 7 p.m. This "Context" public affairs event takes a closer look at Illinois' medical cannabis pilot program approved by state lawmakers. There have been a few delays getting the project started, and tens of thousands of patients who’ve qualified for medical marijuana cards are waiting to get their prescriptions filled. However, before that happens, there are some regulatory hurdles marijuana growers and dispensaries have to cross before the drug can be sold in Illinois. Learn more about the “debilitating” diseases that qualify for marijuana treatment, grow centers, dispensaries, and the legal rights protecting patients. Four experts in the field brought us up to date on the program and answered questions on June 25 at 7 p.m. in Studio A, in the Northern Public Radio studios in the NIU Broadcast Center, 801 N. First Street in DeKalb. The guest panelists included: Dan Linn: Executive Director, Illinois chapter of National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws,

There’s been a lot of news about strained relationships between police officers and the citizens they serve. Police officials say they’re making changes to improve relations and build trust within the community but critics claim not enough is being done. WNIJ's public forum, “Context - Safe Neighborhoods, Safe City: Changing Roles of Police and Community,” was held Thursday, August 27, 2015, at the Kresge Hall in the Riverfront Museum Park, in Rockford. WNIJ Reporter Sue Stephens moderated the Context panel. Guests were: Rockford Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey Rockford Police Chief Chet Epperson State Representative Litesa Wallace United Way Community Impact Manager Matthew Simpson For more information about WNIJ's Context series, please contact Maria Boynton, Director of Community Engagement, at mboynton@niu.edu or at (815) 753-9000.

"Similar to others in the marketplace, approximately half of Nike-owned stores have been temporarily closed," while it is "experiencing lower than planned retail traffic in stores that do remain open."

Dutch news agency ANP, citing an internal email, reported overnight that the office in Hilversum would be disinfected. The employee was staying home in isolation for 14 days, it said.

Russia has imported leather and footwear worth USD 3.9 billion in 2018, and India's exports to that country stood at only USD 52.6 million, said Panaruna Aqeel Ahmed, chairman of Council for Leather Exports (CLE).

Big brands have quit Amazon's platform due to sales of counterfeit products and unauthorised sellers which undermines the value of the original brands.

Chhetri joins the brand's roster of global players like Antoine Griezmann, Romelu Lukaku, Luis Suarez and Sergio Aguero among others.

Retail in India has not developed at the same pace as the products. Getting good quality retail is a challenge. The country has limited number of malls. There is no high street.

Duke University Press, ISBN-13: 978-0822368687, English, 288 pages, 2019, USA

Eidsheim starts this book by introducing ‘the acousmatic question’ (“who’s this, who’s speaking?”) to discuss the dichotomy between a sound and its source before and →

INTRO – A new CD by ENC native Jennifer Licko took a long, circuitous and electronic path toward final production. George Olsen has more. “It was a really nice collaboration of an Irish producer in Minnesota, an English producer in Florida and a Brazilian producer here in Brazil and I think it made for an interesting outcome.” … made even more multi-cultural by the fact the performer is a Swansboro native and East Carolina University graduate performing primarily in Scots Gaelic. Jennifer Licko discussing the virtual miles put in producing her latest CD “Sing.” Jennifer has lived a rather peripatetic life since graduating from ECU in 1998… time in Scotland, time here in eastern North Carolina, time in Brazil, time in Minnesota, time back in Brazil as of this date and time. The production of the new CD “Sing” also has that peripatetic motif. The English producer facetimed into a studio in Brazil to produce her vocal tracks with the Brazilian producer wherupon the Irish producer in

“While we are yet to feel the pressure in products sourced from third-party suppliers, there are shortages in Apple’s original accessories,” said one of the re-sellers of the American brand in an upmarket store at Gurgaon.

Industry watchers say wholesalers are holding back stocks of popular phone models in anticipation of a price rise by the month-end as production in China slows; brands as yet unaware of complaints.

"We strongly appeal to you to not increase GST on mobiles. The increase of 6% would directly lead to hike in prices of product, impacting consumer behaviour leading to a slowdown in demand affecting business adversely,” said the letter written by AIMRA national president Arvinder Khurana.

“We recommend allowing all physical shops dealing on sales, repair and service activity of mobile phones, mobile devices (laptops and tablets) and their supporting accessories to be opened on a limited basis (three days a week for five hours) with limited number of staff,” AIMRA said in an April 17 letter to union home minister Amit Shah.

“For incubators, we want to look at India as the first starting point,” said Manish Agarwal, CEO of Reliance Entertainment.

Toonz Animation, the flagship division of leading content company Toonz Entertainment, has signed a major deal with Gummybear International Inc.

Free download of Superman Blues from the Kentucky Headhunters with Johnnie Johnson 's new CD "Meet Me in Bluesland", currently featured on The Sound. Find out more about the artist here .

Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Oriental Bank of Commerce, Allahabad Bank, Union Bank of India, and Bank of Maharashtra have jointly lent close to Rs 4,000 crore to the two Rotomac Group companies.

Special CBI judge M P Chaudhary fixed June 21 for next hearing of the case.

Rotomac Exports and Rotomac Global, firms promoted by banking-fraud accused Vikram Kothari, will now be auctioned by the bankruptcy court.

The company will spend about Rs 90 cr to expand and modernise the plant spread over 17 acres this fiscal, he said.

We will be investing approximately Rs 2-3 crore each in setting up 10 Lacasa stores covering around 40,000-50,000 sq. ft. area till 2020.

According to the notification, companies that make phones priced at ₹15,000 and above and which make a cumulative investment of ₹1,000 crore over four years, starting with ₹250 crore in the first year, will qualify for an incentive of 6% for the first two years, followed by 5% for the next two and 4% in the fifth year..

India imports 45% of completely built units of consumer durables from China and it also imports nearly 70% of the components for television, and other consumer durable products. The price increase by suppliers at a time when demand is drastically down has hit the sector hard, said the presentation by Ficci to the government.

Having suffered an unprecedented sales decline of 6-7 per cent in 2019-20, the industry will be up against challenges in both supply and demand sides due to the coronavirus pandemic, Panasonic India and South Asia President and CEO Manish Sharma said.

Products such as laptops, smartphones and printers have become crucial for those working from home, while household appliances like washing machines, ACs, TVs and vacuum cleaners are now more important than ever for households.

​​Individually, each brand is seeking more clarity and approval on the guidelines. The guidelines say that we would have to open in a phased manner. All brands are gearing up to open up, wherever, it will be permitted," CEAMA President Kamal Nandi said.

Samsung has created an ecommerce platform in partnership with Benow.in along with mobile phone retailers across the country that will allow them to sell and deliver smartphones. Offline stores are also being used to fulfil orders placed on Samsung’s e-store for television and appliances.

Several brands took the decision since both offline and online market is closed leading to piling up of inventory in their warehouses, and several of their plants falling in red zones or in states where permission has not yet been given. Some states like Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka have also decided to not provide any relaxation to industries till the lockdown ends.

Companies like Panasonic India, Godrej Appliances, Dixon Technologies and Super Plastronics Pvt Ltd said with retail outlets shut there is no point to start production as there is existing unsold inventory of March at warehouses and dealers.

Most consumer durables companies in India rely on imported components. Poor input supplies since January and later closure of factories, malls, shops and offices due to the lockdown hit consumer demand badly.

"Sales and profits of set products business, including smartphones and TVs, are expected to decline significantly as COVID-19 affects demand and leads to store and plant closures globally," Samsung said in a statement.

According to officials, retail demand started to build up gradually. In some cases, people were completing prelockdown transactions and others new ones.

India’s largest maker of writing & printing paper has been in talks with Nine Dragons for some time now. Discussions are likely to lead to a binding agreement soon, sources said.

"The company will invest another Rs 15 crore in another three months. The factory is close to Chennai port, thereby facilitating easy exports to our buyers abroad. We are happy to inaugurate our third manufacturing facility in India and production has already begun ,” said John Baby, chief executive officer (CEO), Funskool.

With 167 stores across 18 countries, Hamleys gives Reliance Retail a much-needed global footprint.

Even with Reliance's considerable experience, turning a trophy into a titan isn’t a given.

The world’s largest publicly traded toymaker, which has licenses for popular franchises such as “Frozen” and the “Avengers,” said US goods produced in China could drop to about 50% by the end of 2020, from just under two-thirds currently.

Rohan Mathur, senior regional sales manager - South Asia for The Lego Group spoke to ET about the toy industry, company’s India plans and its recent event in Delhi engaging the Indian government to prioritise play.

Prada, who has been the creative force behind one of luxury's most successful brands for 30 years, said the new partnership did not signal an eventual succession.

Good Earth is now a prominent go-to destination for home decor enthusiasts and interior designers alike as it offers something for everyone.

Twelve tons of the gel will be produced as soon as this week.

Giorgio Armani has donated 2 million euros in recent weeks to hospitals around Italy.

The offers are on luxury products such as watches, cars and shoes, just as many other players also join the ‘lockdown bandwagon’.

We foresee a deferred demand. Most of the weddings in Q1 got pushed to Q3 or Q4 due to the lockdown. People may spend less money on destination weddings, clothes and other events around it. But we expect investment in jewellery for weddings, said Ajoy Chawla, CEO of Titan’s jewellery division.