The coronavirus outbreak has turned many of us into nervous germophobes, seeking to protect ourselves from infection by washing our hands methodically and frequently, avoiding unnecessary contact with so called high-touch surfaces and methodically sanitizing packages, our homes and our bodies. For people diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder, or O.C.D., the worry created by the threat…
Dr. William Frankland, one of the top allergists of the 20th century and an indomitable researcher who helped legions of hay fever sneezers by distributing daily pollen counts to the British public, died in London this week. He was 108. The British Society for Allergy and Clinical Immunology announced his death on its website. Dr.…
As we enter April, caring for those sick with Covid-19 and preventing others from becoming so remains the priority in New York City, as in the rest of the country. But how can we look out for others particularly affected by the crisis? Citywide closures of nonessential services have devastated the arts at every level:…
We have never experienced a lockdown like this. Public and personal spaces have been transformed almost overnight. With so many new rules to follow, it’s understandable to feel destabilized. But we should still strive to be our best selves as we go about our day. “Acts of kindness and support in a community are deeply…
The Finns have a tradition of getting drunk at home in their underwear. It’s so commonplace there is a word for it, “kalsarikännit,” as well as two emojis: a man in gray underwear with pint of beer, and a woman in a polka-dot slip with a glass of red wine. In English, the rough translation…
Until a few months ago, most of us didn’t give hand sanitizer much thought. Now it’s sold out around the world, prompting a variety of do-it-yourself recipes that are designed to be mixed up in a home kitchen. But medical experts discourage D.I.Y. sanitizer for a variety of reasons. For starters, it lacks quality control…
Liz and I were on a cargo ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean with the sun setting and a light wind. The scene resembled one of those retirement brochures in which a couple stares wistfully across the open sea and into their future — except she and I barely knew each other. It…
With her school closed, her city quiet and her country under lockdown, Stevie-Lee Tiller, 13, is stuck at home with her parents and three siblings. Stevie-Lee, who lives in Hamilton, New Zealand, misses her friends at school. She is a little scared of the coronavirus because her father, a factory supervisor, is still going to…
Travel and travel planning are being disrupted by the worldwide spread of the coronavirus. For the latest updates, read The New York Times’s Covid-19 coverage here. For many travelers looking to save money, booking through a third party site like Expedia, Priceline or Kayak has become second nature, especially for those looking for last-minute travel…
Before the coronavirus started making its way through New Jersey, Julie Samuels and Joe Hillyer had planned a simple town hall wedding with just witnesses, followed by an intimate dinner at home. It wasn’t to be. Weeks before the civil ceremony scheduled for March 27 in Montclair, N.J., friends and family members started petitioning to…