Alex Moore, the first Palantir Technologies employee and its former director of operations, has joined 8VC as an operating partner, Axios has learned.
After leaving Palantir in 2010, Moore co-founded NodePrime, a cloud automation company acquired last year by Ericsson, and also has been an active angel investor. 8VC is led by Joe Lonsdale, who co-founded Palantir before becoming a full-time venture capitalist.
President Trump said on Saturday he is considering a "short term" quarantine of New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut — states that have already taken steps to quarantine residents and promote social distancing.
The big picture: With 112,000 people infected, the U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases in the world, exceeding China and Italy, per data from Johns Hopkins. A second wave of American cities, including Boston, Detroit, New Orleans and Philadelphia, are reporting influxes of cases.
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the U.S., Axios is answering readers' questions about the pandemic — how it spreads, who's at risk, and what you can do to stay safe.
What's new: This week, we answer five questions on smokers' vulnerability, food safety, visiting older parents, hair cut needs, and rural vs. urban impact.
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
Researchers are racing to develop tests that detect whether someone may have developed immunity to the coronavirus, which could help society return to normal faster.
Why it matters: These tests could help people know if they are able to go back to work, as well as aid researchers in tracking the scale and death rate of the disease — key data for current and future pandemic policies.