Kennedy Coates is in isolation with her family in Toronto, but the 10-year-old isn’t sitting around bored. She’s writing a musical about coronavirus, and with the help of her mom and brother, sharing short clips of it online.

The Current from CBC Radio (Highlights)

'Make the best of times': Meet the 10-year-old writing a musical about coronavirus

The Current’s Galloway was joined by Dr. Brian Goldman and community nurse Erin Warman to discuss how front-line health-care workers are coping. He also spoke to former U.S. ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman about the political response to the crisis.

COVID-19: What front-line workers are facing, and the political response

Today on The Current: Our national affairs panel — The Globe and Mail's Andre Picard, CBC's Catherine Cullen, the Toronto Star's Robert Benzie — discuss states of emergency across the country, and the economic impacts of COVID-19. Plus, people who have to go to work are struggling with how to do that safely. Then, Canadians stuck in Morocco are pleading with the Canadian government to provide assistance in getting home. And finally, what the creator of board game Pandemic says his creation can tell us about real-world outbreaks.

National affairs panel on COVID-19; Workers navigating the challenges of the outbreak; Canadians stuck in Morocco; Board game offers insight into pandemics

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair says the decision to bar Canadians abroad with potential COVID-19 symptoms from boarding commercial flights was made out of "an abundance of caution."

Canadians abroad with potential COVID-19 symptoms will get 'enhanced consular support': Blair

Today on The Current: Public Safety Minister Bill Blair discusses Canada’s new travel restrictions aimed at fighting COVID-19, and we ask whether the exemption for U.S. visitors undermines the effort. Plus, we speak with business leaders about how they’re reorganizing in the face of the pandemic; and we look to the helpers: Canadians setting up groups and funds to help those hit hardest. We also speak to a psychologist about how you can protect your own mental health during long stays in isolation. And finally, we look at the Hollywood films about pandemics, what do they get right — and wrong?

Bill Blair on COVID-19 and travel restrictions; Ordinary Canadians helping those hardest hit; Protecting your mental health; Hollywood pandemics

We talk to people trying to help some of the most vulnerable Canadians in the COVID-19 pandemic, including the elderly, homeless people and Indigenous communities.

COVID-19: Helping the most vulnerable Canadians

An Italian doctor discusses how the crisis unfolded in his country, and offers a warning to Canada about complacency.

COVID-19: A warning from Italy

We look at some of the technology being used to fight the outbreak: including robots to kill the virus, and drones and facial recognition to aid containment. We also discuss the privacy concerns that come with some of these measures.

Technology deployed to fight COVID-19 pandemic

Millions of people displaced by the Syrian civil war are still struggling to rebuild their lives, while neighbouring countries struggle to cope with the humanitarian crisis. The CBC’s Margaret Evans and David Beasley, head of the UN’s World Food Program, were recently in the region. They tell us what they saw.

The crisis in Syria

Is Canada's healthcare system ready for a surge in COVID-19 cases? We hear from three doctors about what they’re seeing, and what kind of personal toll the pandemic is already taking on them.

How are front-line health workers coping during the pandemic?

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells The Current about his wife Sophie Gregoire's COVID-19 diagnosis. Host Matt Galloway asks how his family is doing, what it means for the work of government, and how he’s helping concerned Canadians.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Canada's response to COVID-19 outbreak, wife's diagnosis

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, misinformation about the virus is spreading online, from false cures, to false reports about how it’s spread. We discuss how to practice good information hygiene.

COVID-19 and misinformation

In some Canadian cities, kids are taking some time away from screens to try out an older form of entertainment: bridge. We checked in on a tournament for younger players in Calgary, where one boy told us it gives him “the same joy as video games.”

Teaching bridge to a new generation

Writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben says the adaptations we make to fight the COVID-19 outbreak could hold valuable lessons elsewhere — in the efforts to mitigate climate change.

What can coronavirus efforts teach us in the fight against climate change?

As the U.S. blocks travel to Europe over the COVID-19 outbreak, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says Canada is "constantly looking at all the measures we are taking to keep Canadians safe and healthy, including border measures.”

Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland on the COVID-19 pandemic

CBC Radio's The Current is a meeting place of perspectives with a fresh take on issues that affect Canadians today.

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The Current from CBC Radio (Highlights)

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