The Morning: What Covid taught us

Plus, the stock market, an activist arrest and balloon art.

View in browser|nytimes.com March 11, 2025 Good morning. Our colleague Claire Cain Miller shares some lessons from the pandemic. We're also covering the stock market, an activist arrest and balloon art. Liana Finck What Covid taught us By Claire Cain Miller I cover gender, families and education. When the pandemic upended our lives five years ago today, it gave researchers a rare chance to learn more about who we are and how we live. The entire world changed at once, creating natural experiments everywhere. What happens when sports teams play in empty stadiums? When the government sends people money? When women stop wearing high heels? When children stop going to school? In many cases, it was impossible to know what caused the specific changes — some aspect of the Covid pandemic or another invisible influence. But the findings demystified several aspects of our world. My colleague Irineo Cabreros and I wrote about them in a story we published today. Here are some highlights: Crowds help the home team When sports teams played in empty stadiums, research showed that yes, the fans made a difference: Home teams played worse without them around. They were less likely to win at home and had poorer performances. The effect was smaller for teams already accustomed to smaller crowds. But the home advantage wasn't just about fans. When the N.B.A. restarted play, the top 22 teams isolated in Orlando, Fla., allowing researchers to study the effects of jet lag. Rebounding, shooting accuracy and wins were all higher among players who hadn't traveled across time zones. Virtual doctor visits work … Telehealth, once uncommon, accounted for half of medical visits early in the pandemic. Mostly, patients and doctors were satisfied with seeing one another online. Telehealth lowered health care costs. It was especially useful for treating chronic illnesses and for psychotherapy. And in some cases, the pandemic revealed, people don't need to see a doctor at all. The number of patients showing up with mild appendicitis decreased, while the number with complicated appendicitis didn't change, which suggested that some people who would typically have had surgery recovered on their own. … but virtual school doesn't Liana Finck When it came to learning, remote schooling wasn't enough. Across the country, in rich and poor districts, and among white, Black and Hispanic students, test scores in reading and math fell. Many students still haven't caught up. There was learning loss even in countries that had shorter school closures than the United States did. But the data is clear: The sooner children returned to classrooms, even part time, the better they did. Dolphins talked more When humans were less active — what scientists call the anthropause — animals began breeding more and traveling farther. Dolphins whistled longer, birds changed their songs, sea turtles laid more eggs. In some places, predators or invasive species arrived. Urban wildlife that had become accustomed to coexisting with humans (and our trash), like crows or raccoons, retreated. It revealed the ways in which humans both threaten and protect the natural world, scientists said. Men do less The lockdowns brought a crush of domestic labor. More dishes piled up, and more needy children were underfoot. But even when men worked from home, women still handled more of the work. Eight in 10 mothers said they managed remote schooling. (Fathers overestimated their contribution, surveys found.) That's likely a reason mothers' antidepressant use increased when schools were closed, but not fathers'. Mothers were also more likely than men to cut back at work — though they returned as soon as they could. Only couples who want egalitarian relationships, researchers wrote, can overcome "the stickiness of gender inequality in household work." Plants make us happy Liana Finck People flocked to natural areas when they could, and they were better off for it. A study in Hong Kong compared people who lived near urban green spaces with those who didn't. It found that parks provided physical activity and a refuge. A study in nine countries found that access to nature — even a balcony or a garden at home — improved people's moods. And a study in Taiwan analyzed the "window/wall ratio" in people's quarantine rooms and found that more windows, especially ones that offered views of vegetation, made them happier. There were so many other striking findings — such as how easy it is to lift children out of poverty and how dangerous high heels can be for women. Read the whole list here. More on the Covid anniversary The New York Times The Times asked 19 photographers to revisit their most enduring images of the pandemic. See their pictures here. Restructured family dynamics and going makeup-free: Twenty-nine Americans shared how the pandemic changed their lives, for better and for worse. THE LATEST NEWS Stock Market Wall Street had its worst day of the year so far after President Trump suggested that his trade policies could cause a recession. Markets in Asia are down this morning. Tech stocks suffered some of the hardest falls. The tech-heavy Nasdaq experienced its biggest one-day drop since 2022, The Wall Street Journal reports. Tesla shares fell 15 percent in a day. The company's stock price, which soared after the election, has halved since December. Trump campaigned on a promise of "skyrocketing wealth." His tariffs have made that a difficult promise to keep. Russia Ukraine targeted Moscow with a major drone attack. Moscow's mayor said the attack was the largest against the city since the war began. Volodymyr Zelensky has offered a truce on long-range strikes like this. But Ukraine appears to be sending a reminder of its power. Ukrainian and American officials will meet today for their first high-level talks on a cease-fire since an Oval Office shouting match between their presidents. More International News Former President Rodrigo Duterte of the Philippines Anthony Kwan/Getty Images Rodrigo Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, was arrested on an International Criminal Court warrant. The court accuses him of crimes against humanity in his war on drugs. Pope Francis is out of imminent danger from pneumonia, the Vatican said. The Kurdish-led militia that controls northeastern Syria agreed to merge with the country's new government. Despite backing rebels at war in Congo, Rwanda still lures tourists and investors. Government Overhaul A judge ordered the State Department and U.S.A.I.D. to pay grant recipients for work completed in the first weeks of Trump's term. Another judge found that Elon Musk's DOGE is probably subject to public disclosure laws and must hand over documents to a group that sued for access to its emails. Harvard froze hiring. It said Trump's threats to cut funding for higher had created uncertainty. Activist Arrest The Trump administration is relying on an obscure law in its effort to deport a pro-Palestinian student activist. The activist, Mahmoud Khalil, has a green card and is married to a U.S. citizen. After his arrest, officials moved him to an ICE detention center in Louisiana. Trump cheered Khalil's arrest, writing on social media, "This is the first arrest of many to come." The arrest divided the American Jewish community, which is trying to reconcile its support for Israel with its long commitment to civil liberties. More on the Trump Administration Trump is wooing Republican lawmakers, while maintaining an implicit threat to ruin them if they stray from his agenda. At the start of his term, Trump said Guantánamo Bay would house as many as 30,000 migrants awaiting deportation. As of this weekend, 40 were there. As a measles outbreak spreads, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. raised alarms about measles vaccines, despite evidence of their safety. The Justice Department's pardon attorney opposed a request to restore Mel Gibson's gun rights. The department fired her a day later. The U.S. energy secretary, before a crowd of oil and gas executives, promised to reverse the government's focus on climate change. Amazon will stream "The Apprentice," deepening the company's relationship with Trump. "I look forward to watching this show myself," Trump said in an Amazon statement. Other Big Stories Researchers repaired a disease-causing gene mutation for the first time, using a single infusion to correct a spelling error in patients' DNA. Mississippi became the third state to ban lab-grown meat, after Florida and Alabama, Wired reports. Georgia and Nebraska may soon follow. A number of colleges, faced with increasing political pressure, have adopted policies to stay silent on social issues. Opinions Companies should get rid of their D.E.I. policies and hire people on their merits, Anson Frericks writes. Here are columns by Lydia Polgreen on migration in Dubai and Michelle Goldberg on the arrest of the student activist. Save up to 75% on Games. Our best offer won't last. Love to play? Discover all our games. Subscribe to New York Times Games today and save up to 75% on your first year — improve your Wordle strategy with Wordle Bot, reach Genius on Spelling Bee, plus more. Come play with us. MORNING READS In Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Janice Chung for The New York Times Caffeine at 3 a.m.: Yemeni immigrants are making their mark on U.S. coffee. Bright lights, bot city: Can an A.I. travel agent plan a dream trip to New York City? Look again: You may not actually understand your dog. Most clicked yesterday: Scientists are beginning to understand how Covid can sometimes cause invisible damage to the body. Lives Lived: David Sellers believed architects would plan better if they did their own construction, and he became the father of the design-build movement. He died at 86. SPORTS N.F.L.: The Seahawks and the top free-agent quarterback Sam Darnold agreed to a three-year, nearly $101 million contract. It was the biggest deal on a day full of them. M.L.B.: The Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will undergo Tommy John surgery, ending his 2025 season before it began. Memorabilia: A new line of M.L.B. hats upset and amused fans; one accidentally spelt out a vulgarity. See the hats. ARTS AND IDEAS A balloon sculpture by DJ Morrow. Jake Michaels for The New York Times You won't find one of DJ Morrow's balloons at a children's birthday party. Morrow, an avant-garde artist, creates ephemeral inflatable sculptures that can disturb as much as they delight. His works have explored political power, mental health and his upbringing in a cult. See him at work. More on culture In a new book, a former Facebook executive offers an exposé about her time at the company. "Not only does she have the storytelling chops to unspool a gripping narrative; she also delivers the goods," Jennifer Szalai writes. Jimmy Fallon joked about Trump and the stock market: "It's not great when the summary of your first two months in office is 'Stocks down, measles up.'" THE MORNING RECOMMENDS … Sang An for The New York Times Smash 20 cloves of garlic for these San Francisco-style noodles. Improve bone density and coordination. Prepare for the worst with a medical alert system. Replace exhausted household essentials. GAMES Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was liturgy. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@nytimes.com. Editor: Adam B. Kushner News Editor: Tom Wright-Piersanti Associate Editor: Lauren Jackson News Staff: Desiree Ibekwe, Brent Lewis, German Lopez, Ashley Wu News Assistant: Lyna Bentahar Saturday Writer: Melissa Kirsch Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for the Morning newsletter from The New York Times, or as part of your New York Times account. To stop receiving The Morning, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. 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