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Isolation Causes Loneliness. What Else Can It Do To Our Bodies?

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Barber Karl Manke who faces two misdemeanor charges for reopening his shop despite state shutdown orders, sanitizes the barber chair before cutting a client hair at his barbershop on May 12, 2020 in Owosso, Michigan.

JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images

There's a cost to staying home, too. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a neuroscientist and social psychologist at Brigham Young University, explains the toll that social isolation can take.

It's been exactly three months since President Trump issued the first national guidelines for social distancing, including pausing nursing home visitors.

NPR’s Ashley Westerman recently checked in on her 100-year-old grandfather. Paul Westerman's wife of 76 years is in hospice care. He's alone, except for the nurses in his veteran's home.

Plus NPR's Chris Arnold checks in on a Boston hair stylist going back to work.

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Email the show at coronavirusdaily@npr.org.

This episode was recorded and published as part of this podcast's former 'Coronavirus Daily' format.

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