Our coverage of the coronavirus


A selection of our stories about covid-19 and its consequences

Since it emerged in December 2019, the coronavirus has officially killed over 6m people, though our own estimate suggests the actual toll exceeds 20m. It has infected many millions more and compelled governments around the world to lock down their populations. The rapid development of vaccines has at least offered some grounds for optimism. To stay up to speed with The Economist’s coverage of the virus, you can bookmark this hub page; register to receive our weekly newsletter, which has a special edition showcasing our coronavirus coverage; and follow our data trackers showing global vaccination rates, a daily estimate of excess deaths around the world and the virus’s spread across Europe and America.

Political and social consequences

Some thought covid would change literature. It has not

Two new novels by Michael Cunningham and Sigrid Nunez offer proof

Covid-19 was a disaster for the world’s schoolchildren

The costs of wasting brainpower are huge



How Britain lives with covid-19 today

Cases are rising again, but the public have other worries


Economic consequences

The pandemic has broken a closely followed survey of sentiment

Americans’ opinions about the state of the economy have diverged from reality

Sunday brunch is the new Friday night

Post-lockdowns, in-person spending has shifted from weekdays to weekends


Expensive energy may have killed more Europeans than covid-19 last winter

Our modelling estimates that high energy prices claimed 68,000 lives


America is ending its emergency declaration for the pandemic

Many services that Americans have come to rely on are about to wind down


Epidemiology

In an ugly world, vaccines are a beautiful gift worth honouring

According to the WHO, they have saved more lives than any other medical invention

The 2023 Nobel prizes honour work that touched millions of lives

Besides mRNA vaccines, they celebrate ultra-fast lasers and tiny prisons for light


A new study of studies reignites controversy over mask mandates

Most papers are inconclusive, though the largest covid-era study showed benefits


Where did covid-19 come from?

There are two opposing theories: zoonosis, and a leak from a lab


Data trackers

The pandemic’s true death toll

Our daily estimate of excess deaths around the world

The global normalcy index

Is the world returning to pre-pandemic life? Find out with our interactive tracker


Tracking covid-19 across the world

Use our live data to follow the battle against the pandemic


Excess deaths, by country or city

In many parts of the world, official death tolls undercount the total number of fatalities


Tracking the coronavirus across Europe

How countries and regions are coping with the covid-19 pandemic