Each week I check the latest deaths from COVID-19 for NPR. After a while, I didn't feel any sorrow at the numbers. I just felt numb. I wanted to understand why — and how to overcome that numbness.

Their physical and emotional health had withered in the pandemic year. But reentry into post-vaccination life made for tricky choices, too.

Retail sales jumped nearly 10% in March, as shoppers, flush with $1,400 relief payments, are feeling more confident about venturing out. Weekly unemployment claims dropped to a pandemic low.

COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective but don't always provide perfect protection. Some vaccinated people later exposed to the virus still get sick. Why and how often that happens is under study.

Consumer prices jumped last month as businesses struggled to keep pace with booming demand, but the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve say the uptick in inflation is likely to be temporary.

So many people who are working from home are feeling burnt out these days. Shaking things up and finding moments of joy could help us put energy back into our work.

The International Monetary Fund predicts the U.S. economy will grow at its fastest pace in decades this year, lifting the outlook for worldwide economic growth.

Hiring by U.S. employers accelerated sharply amid an improving public health outlook and a new round of $1,400 relief payments.

Some scientists worry the possibility the coronavirus escaped from research facilities hasn't gotten enough scrutiny. Others say it appears far more likely to have emerged naturally.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is extending an order preventing evictions. It was set to expire this week, which could have displaced staggering numbers of people from their homes.

Some Mexicans with family ties or dual citizenship in the U.S., or who can afford the airfare, head north of the border to get vaccinated faster than the months of waiting for one back home.

The Federal Reserve chairman tells NPR that the U.S. economy is on a clear path to recovery thanks to the Fed's rescue plan and the stimulus passed by Congress.

Saudi Arabia's state-backed oil company earned $49 billion last year as the pandemic slashed fuel demand around the globe, in what its CEO called "one of the most challenging years in history."

In the U.S. South — home to nine of the nation's 12 heaviest states — obesity is playing a role not only in COVID-19 outcomes but in the calculus of the vaccination rollout.

The coronavirus pandemic has exposed just how fragile some of our institutions are. How have you and your neighbors filled in the gaps to help each other?