Axios

If all goes to plan, Christopher Nolan's thrice-delayed "Tenet" will be the first blockbuster to receive a proper worldwide theatrical release amid the coronavirus pandemic at the end of this month.

Why it matters: It'll be playing a $200 million game of chicken, hoping to prove that people across the globe are still willing to trek to theaters to see a splashy new movie.

Seven players and six staff members from the St. Louis Cardinals have tested positive for the coronavirus over the past week, prompting the MLB to postpone the team's upcoming four-game series against the Detroit Tigers.

Why it matters: Seven consecutive Cardinals games have now been canceled after St. Louis became the second team to report a significant coronavirus outbreak, just two weeks into the season.

Former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told CNBC’s “Squawk Box" Monday that coronavirus outbreaks in the MLB, which declined to use the "bubble" strategy employed by the NBA, are "a warning of what could potentially happen if we aren't very careful with the schools."

Why it matters: Gottlieb's comments underscore questions about how schools, especially underfunded public schools, will be able to cope with reopening when a corporation with almost unlimited wealth is overwhelmed in a matter of days, as Axios' Shane Savitsky points out.

Staff in the Executive Office of the President will be subject to mandatory coronavirus tests, in efforts to "protect the health and safety of the entire White House Complex," CNBC reports.

• Why it matters: Multiple people in the White House have tested positive for COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, including President Trump's national security adviser Robert O'Brien last week.

What they're saying: “As part of our ongoing efforts to protect the health and safety of the entire White House Complex, randomized testing of Executive Office of the President staff, which has been ongoing for several months, will become mandatory rather than voluntary," a White House official said Monday.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN on Monday she does not have confidence in White House coronavirus task force coordinator Deborah Birx because "she has enabled" President Trump to spread coronavirus misinformation.

What she's saying: "I don't have confidence in anyone who stands there while the president says, 'Swallow Lysol and it's going to cure your virus,'" Pelosi told host Jim Sciutto.

Siemens Healthineers, a medical tech affiliate of Siemens, agreed to buy Palo Alto-based cancer therapy company Varian Medical Systems for $16.4 billion in cash.

Why it matters: It would be the health care sector's largest merger so far in 2020.

At least 5 passengers and 36 crew members aboard a Norwegian cruise ship have tested positive for the coronavirus, and authorities fear the outbreak may have spread to towns along the country's western coast, AP reports.

Why it matters: Cruise ships have shown to be a prime vector for coronavirus spread. Hundreds were infected aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in the early days of the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic is leading Americans toward a more favorable view of doctors, according to our KFF polling.

Why it matters: New appreciation for frontline health care workers — expressed in polling as well as yard signs and nightly applause from apartment windows — could help boost morale within the medical profession and perhaps get young people more interested in specialties that aren’t usually the most lucrative.

The economy has been tanking. Coronavirus infections and deaths have been rising. And the health care industry is as rich as ever.

The big picture: Second-quarter results are still pouring in, but so far, a vast majority of health care companies are reporting profits that many people assumed would not have been possible as the pandemic raged on.

Victoria's premier Dan Andrews said Monday all retailers except for essential services like grocery stores in state capital Melbourne must shut for six weeks, effective Aug. 7, as cases continue to surge in Australia's second-most populous state.

The big picture: A day after he declared a disaster in Victoria to enacted tougher measures, Andrews told a briefing, "we need to dramatically reduce people moving in the community." Restrictions including a nightly curfew in Melbourne began Sunday. Andrews confirmed 429 new cases and 13 deaths from COVID-19 — equaling the state and national death toll record set last month. Australia looked set to suppress COVID-19 in May. Most places have had few or no cases, but Victoria's have spiked in recent weeks.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti announced on Facebook late Sunday that he's in isolation and will work from home for two weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, adding, "I have no signs, except a very mild cough."

The big picture: Kosovo has reported almost 8,800 cases and 249 deaths from the novel coronavirus, per Johns Hopkins data. The Kosovar government reintroduced lockdown measures last week for its population of 1.8 million amid surging cases, AP notes.

• British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro have also previously tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

A top Federal Reserve official told CBS Sunday that a "really hard" four- to six-week lockdown could benefit the U.S. economy as Congress "has the resources to support those who are most hurting" during the coronavirus pandemic.

Details: Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank president Neel Kashkari said a short lockdown "could get the case count down so that our testing and our contact tracing was actually enough to control it the way that it's happening in the Northeast right now."