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Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

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OpenTable forecasts 25% of U.S. restaurants to shutter permanently

A man in Alexandria, Virginia, on May 11. Photo: Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

OpenTable expects that one in four U.S. restaurants will go out of business due to closures enforced by stay-at-home orders and customers skittish in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg reports.

The big picture: Restaurants that do reopen will look different than they did before the crisis, with limited menus, more space per diner and scarcer reservations, Axios' Felix Salmon reports.

What they're saying: Online and phone reservations along with walk-ins at OpenTable restaurants in the U.S. have dropped 95% from this time last year, per the company's latest data report.

  • "Restaurants are complicated beasts," Steve Hafner, CEO of Booking Holdings' OpenTable and Kayak, told Bloomberg. "You have to order food and supplies. You have to make sure you've prepped the kitchen and service areas to be easily disinfected."

Go deeper: The plight of restaurants and retail in the face of coronavirus

Go deeper

Axios
Updated Oct 7, 2020 - Health

World coronavirus updates

Expand chart
Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

New Zealand now has active no coronavirus cases in the community after the final six people linked to the Auckland cluster recovered, the country's Health Ministry confirmed in an email Wednesday.

The big picture: The country's second outbreak won't officially be declared closed until there have been "no new cases for two incubation periods," the ministry said. Auckland will join the rest of NZ in enjoying no domestic restrictions from late Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, declaring that NZ had "beat the virus again."

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Orion Rummler
Updated Aug 22, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump accuses FDA of thwarting coronavirus response, after admin limits testing oversight

President Trump at the White House on Aug 20. Photo: Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

President Trump on Saturday baselessly accused the Food and Drug Administration — which he likened to the "deep state, or whoever" — of making it harder for drug companies to distribute coronavirus treatments and vaccines.

Why it matters: Trump's tweet comes on the heels of a policy change by the Department of Health and Human Services to block the FDA's ability to regulate lab-developed tests, including for the coronavirus — which has public health experts worried that unreliable COVID-19 tests could go to market.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Health: Pandemic fatigue quantified — Coronavirus could be worsening childhood obesity.
  2. Vaccine: Biden floats prospect of 1.5 million vaccinations a day — Moderna says vaccine appears to protect against new COVID-19 variants.
  3. Politics: Deborah Birx went "on the road" for local COVID efforts to avoid White House censorship — Sanders says Democrats will push coronavirus relief package through with simple majority.
  4. Business: Budweiser skips Super Bowl ads in favor of vaccine education campaign.
  5. World: First U.S. case of COVID-19 variant from Brazil confirmed in Minnesota — Mexican President López Obrador tests positive for coronavirus.
  6. 🎧 Podcast: Google's chief health officer Karen DeSalvo on vaccinating America.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow

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