Apr 13, 2018

EU antitrust enforcer on Facebook: "Well, they are big"

European competition regulator Margrethe Vestager. Photo: JOHN THYS/AFP/Getty Images

European Union antitrust commissioner Margrethe Vestager emphasized Facebook's size when asked Friday whether she viewed the company as a monopoly, although she added that the bloc has no "official position" on that question:

“Well, they are big. I think in a lot of European states it is very tricky to find someone who is not on Facebook.”

Why it matters: Vestager's comments came in response to Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony at a Tuesday Senate hearing that he doesn’t view Facebook as a monopoly. Vestager said that a German antitrust investigation into the company and new data rules could limit Facebook's power.

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Global: Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 p.m. ET: 838,061 — Total deaths: 41,261 — Total recoveries: 174,115.
U.S.: Leads the world in confirmed cases. Total confirmed cases as of 3:30 p.m. ET: 177,452 — Total deaths: 3,440 — Total recoveries: 6,038.
Public health updates: More than 400 long-term care facilities across the U.S. report patients with coronavirus — Older adults and people with other health conditions are more at risk, new data shows.
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U.S. coronavirus updates: White House studies models projecting virus peak

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

The White House and other institutions are observing several models to better understand and prepare cities for when the coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S.

The state of play: The coronavirus is expected to peak in the U.S. in two weeks, but many states like Virginia and Maryland will see their individual peaks well after that, according to a model by the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

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FDA authorizes two-minute antibody testing kit to detect coronavirus

Currently, it takes days to produce results from testing kits. Photo: Sergei Malgavko\TASS via Getty Images

The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency approval Tuesday for a serological testing kit produced by Bodysphere Inc. that can detect a positive or negative result for COVID-19 in two minutes.

Why it matters: Access to testing has improved in the U.S. thanks to commercial labs, but the average wait time for a patient's results is four to five days — with some reports of it taking more than a week.

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