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COVID, Rent, and Housing : Short Wave When people can't afford rent, they often end up in closer quarters. NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin shares two stories from her reporting and the research being done on housing and eviction policies in the US.

For more of Selena's reporting, check out "Why helping people pay rent can fight the pandemic" (https://n.pr/3BIluHt).

Follow Selena on Twitter @SelenaSD. You can email Short Wave at ShortWave@NPR.org.

Short Wave

Housing and COVID: Why helping people pay rent can help fight the pandemic

Housing and COVID: Why helping people pay rent can help fight the pandemic

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When construction jobs shut down early in the pandemic last year, John Stangel moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland in search of work around the District of Columbia. As far as he knows, he says, he never got sick with COVID-19, but as he moved in with friends and then later to a crowded shelter, his risk of catching the coronavirus, especially before the vaccine was available, was high. Alyssa Schukar for NPR hide caption

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Alyssa Schukar for NPR

When construction jobs shut down early in the pandemic last year, John Stangel moved from Pennsylvania to Maryland in search of work around the District of Columbia. As far as he knows, he says, he never got sick with COVID-19, but as he moved in with friends and then later to a crowded shelter, his risk of catching the coronavirus, especially before the vaccine was available, was high.

Alyssa Schukar for NPR

When people can't afford rent, they often end up in closer quarters. NPR health policy correspondent Selena Simmons-Duffin shares two stories from her reporting and the research being done on housing and eviction policies in the US.

For more of Selena's reporting, check out "Why helping people pay rent can fight the pandemic" (https://n.pr/3BIluHt).

Follow Selena on Twitter @SelenaSD. You can email Short Wave at ShortWave@NPR.org.

This episode was edited by Joe Neel and Gisele Grayson, produced by Thomas Lu, and fact-checked by Margaret Cirino. The audio engineer for this episode was Josh Newell.