News — Coronavirus

But they’ll never forget the magnificent mess of a bookcase behind him. And there’s a growing army of viewers with just one question after tuning into any number of interviews that political commentator John Heilemann has given in recent weeks: What fruit is in those bowls over his shoulder? Ever since the coronavirus forced pundits, reporters, analysts and sports figures to speak to the masses from their dens, living rooms and kitchens, television has given us a peek at the famous and not-so-famous — a glimpse we never got when they were in the studio. Watching TV these days is...

There have been as many plagues as wars in history, yet always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” — Albert Camus, The Plague Time is cruelly elastic. When March began, Joe Biden was celebrating the resurgence of his presidential campaign after a win in the South Carolina primary. When March began, downtown Atlanta was packed with marathon runners, while the Hawks were, reliably, scraping the bottom of the Eastern conference. When March began, we were going to restaurants, and to school, and to soccer games and concerts and plays and funerals and weddings. When March began, we were...

Resort towns rely on visitors as their economic lifeblood, but as the new coronavirus pandemic rages, many are asking nonresidents to stay away. More than 12,000 residents of Cape Cod, Mass., signed a petition this week asking authorities to turn away visitors and nonresident homeowners from the two bridges that are the only roads in to the Boston-area summertime playland. “It’s a stay-at-home order for a reason,” said Beth Hickman of South Yarmouth, who started the petition, in a local talk-radio interview Thursday. “It’s not about going to your second home because it’s a vacation.” From Sedona, Ariz., to the Florida...