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Americans are now getting infected with COVID-19 at 10 times the rate needed to end the pandemic, which will persist until more people get vaccinated, NIAID director Anthony Fauci tells Axios.

Threat level: "The endgame is to suppress the virus. Right now, we're still in pandemic mode, because we have 160,000 new infections a day. That's not even modestly good control ... which means it's a public health threat."

New coronavirus infections held steady across the U.S. as falling case rates in a few hot spots in the South were offset by increases elsewhere.

Driving the news: While the overall COVID case rate increased less than 1% over the last two weeks, hospitalizations increased 4% in the same time frame, and the seven-day rolling average of deaths rose 29%.

COVID concerns are keeping a growing number of Americans out of the labor market.

Why it matters: The wave of Delta variant infections over the past two months has renewed worker fears, which threatens to exacerbate ongoing labor shortages.

The Taliban have agreed to allow around 200 Afghans with dual citizenship, including about 30 Americans, to leave the country Thursday on a flight from Kabul, according to the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.

Why it matters: The flight, which is expected to land in Qatar, would be the first mass evacuation of Afghans since the United States' airlift operation concluded at the end of August.

The conventional wisdom that more people across the board are more likely than ever to leave their jobs is wrong, according to extensive polling by Gallup. 

What is true: Self-identified disengaged workers are ditching jobs faster than ever, the data reveals. 

Stephanie Grisham has quietly written a top-secret memoir of her four years in Donald Trump's White House, and a publishing source says she'll reveal "surprising new scandals."

What to watch: The book — "I'll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House" — will be published Oct. 5 by Harper Collins.

At the opening of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes' trial, prosecution and defense offered two divergent portrayals of the defendant to the jury: she is either a calculating CEO who lied to get money, or a zealous entrepreneur who made mistakes along the way.

Why it matters: The trial in San Jose, which is expected to last 13 weeks, is the highest profile fraud case yet to come out of Silicon Valley, where startups often "fake it 'til they make it."

Amazon's proposed $8.45 billion purchase of Hollywood studio MGM is presenting the Federal Trade Commission, which will soon decide whether to block the deal, with a kind of ideological Rorschach test.

Progressives see it as self-evident that regulators should not allow Amazon to further extend its already vast market power. They expect to find an ally in FTC chair Lina Khan, who built her reputation making the case that Amazon is a monopolist that should be checked.

Coinbase has bank envy. It wants to offer a dollar-denominated savings account — but those plans have been predictably halted by the SEC.

Driving the news: Coinbase seems genuinely surprised and upset about this. While their product looks like a heavily-regulated bank savings account, the SEC merely wants to regulate it as a security. But Coinbase doesn't even want that level of regulation.

Six in 10 Americans favor the call by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) for a “strategic pause” on Democrats' $3.5 trillion spending plan, according to new polling by the bipartisan policy group No Labels shared with Axios.

Why it matters: The survey of 974 registered voters, conducted Tuesday, is the latest flash point in the fight over infrastructure — and how aggressively Democrats should move on a budget reconciliation package to allow them to enact key planks of President Biden's agenda without a single GOP vote.

Taliban announced Wednesday a ban on all protests, slogans, and demonstrations that do not have official approval of the caretaker government.

Why it matters: The decree signals that the new all-male interim government is set to be repressive, despite pledging to be "inclusive." It was written by Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of the new interior ministry, who is wanted by the FBI for terrorism offenses.

The Supreme Court granted a stay of execution on Wednesday night for a Texas inmate who wants his preacher physically by his side praying for him at the time of his lethal injection.

Why it matters, via the Washington Post: "The request by John Henry Ramirez, 37, is the latest conflict over when a death row inmate’s spiritual requests conflict with the security and decorum prison officials say is needed during an execution."

United Airlines staffers who are granted religious exemptions for the company's COVID-19 vaccination mandate will be placed on temporary unpaid leave starting Oct. 2, the airline told employees in a memo.

Driving the news: United last month became the first major U.S. airline to institute a vaccine mandate for employees, and acknowledged then it would consider exemptions for religious, personal or medical exemptions.

The Biden administration has asked 18 members of military service advisory boards, including 11 officials appointed by former President Trump, to resign or be fired, the White House confirmed Wednesday.

Why it matters: The officials include prominent former Trump advisors — like former counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway and former press secretary Sean Spicer —who were appointed to Air Force Academy and Naval Academy boards respectively just before the former president left office.

Democrats are leaning into efforts to raise their numbers in state legislatures — with an emphasis on candidates of color — as red states like Texas and Georgia pass restrictive voting and abortion laws.

Why it matters: States are responsible for many of the laws with the greatest direct impact on people's daily lives. But Republicans control 30 state legislatures and the GOP has the trifecta — the governorship, state House and state Senate control — in 23 states, while Democrats do in 15.

The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed Thursday it has assessed more than 800 of over 2,000 reports of pollution in the wake of Hurricane Ida. Nearly 350 of these have been reports of oil spills.

What's happening: The Coast Guard has established a pollution response team in Baton Rouge following the reports that have emerged since the Aug. 29 hurricane, which first made landfall with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph in Port Fourchon, Louisiana — a key oil industry hub and staging area.