Axios

The U.K. could see up to 50,000 coronavirus cases per day by mid-October if current growth continues, top scientific advisers warned in a televised address from Downing Street on Monday.

The big picture: The U.K. has upgraded its coronavirus alert level from three to four as infections appear to be "high or rising exponentially." Meanwhile, recent European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) data shows that over half of all European Union countries are seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases.

The managing editor of the conservative blog RedState, who under a pseudonym has attacked officials leading the U.S. response to the coronavirus pandemic, was actually a public affairs specialist for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), The Daily Beast reports.

Why it matters: Under the pseudonym "strieff," William B. Crews has written several articles on RedState that directly contradict guidelines issued by the White House coronavirus task force and other government agencies. This includes misinformation that NIAID director Dr. Anthony Fauci and other leaders have warned undermine the U.S. response to the pandemic.

Before her death, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg was preparing to hear a case that could determine the availability of affordable health insurance for around 20 million Americans. Plus for those with pre-existing conditions.

Axios Re:Cap digs into the case and what happens next with University of Michigan law professor and Supreme Court expert Nicholas Bagley.

The CDC has removed new guidance that acknowledged airborne transmission of the coronavirus, posting in a note on its website that the guidance was only a draft and had been published in error.

Why it matters: The initial update — which was little noticed until a CNN story was published Sunday — had come months after scientists pushed for the agency to acknowledge the disease was transmissible through the air. The CDC previously said that close person-to-person contact was the bigger concern, and the language has been changed back to erase the warning about airborne transmission.

A new book, "The Wake-Up Call" — by Bloomberg News editor-in-chief John Micklethwait and The Economist political editor Adrian Wooldridge — warns the West about what can happen to great powers that mishandle a pandemic.

Axios talked to Micklethwait on Friday night, on his ride from Bloomberg's tower in London to the English countryside:

It's really important whether we find a vaccine. It's really important what happens to the economy. But in 20 years' time, if a historian looks back at this year and they say, "Wow, 2020 was the year when Asia clearly began to get ahead of the West," that will be a much bigger deal. 

Nursing homes are finding ways to evict their most expensive patients — often by claiming those patients have psychiatric problems, the New York Times reports.

How it works: Nursing homes send patients to emergency rooms or psychiatric hospitals, claiming they need psychiatric care, and then refuse to let the patient return.

The Supreme Court vacancy created by Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death leaves the Affordable Care Act in much greater jeopardy than it was just a few days ago.

The big picture: Conventional wisdom had held that Chief Justice John Roberts would likely join with the court’s liberals to save the ACA once again. But if President Trump is able to fill Ginsburg’s former seat, Roberts’ vote alone wouldn’t be enough to do the trick, and the law — or big sections of it — is more likely to be struck down.

Traveling with Joe Biden's press corps shows how the campaign juggles an intense focus on protecting his health, with an imperative to keep the coronavirus at the top of voters' minds.

Driving the news: I got to see this firsthand on Friday, when it was Axios' turn to serve as the print pooler for his trip to Minnesota. The timing meant I also happened to be in the bubble when Biden learned of and reacted to the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Joe Biden’s closing argument will shift to a dominant emphasis on health care, turning the looming Supreme Court fight into a referendum on coverage and pre-existing conditions, officials tell Axios.

Why it matters: Biden aides believed they were winning when the race was about the coronavirus pandemic. Now they plan to use the Supreme Court opening as a raucous new field for a health care fight, returning to a theme that gave Democrats big midterm wins in 2018.

The career scientists involved in the approval process will not be swayed by politics, former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb said on CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday.

Why it matters: Gottlieb's comments come amid fears that the Trump administration has politicized the coronavirus response and is seeking rapid approval and distribution of a vaccine.

Coronavirus testing czar Adm. Brett Giroir on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday tried to reconcile President Trump's claim that there will be enough vaccines for every American by April with the very different timelines of top government doctors.

The state of play: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Robert Redfield has claimed that a vaccine will likely be available to everyone late in the second or third quarter of next year. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, has agreed with that timeline.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday that President Trump is rushing to replace the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg because he "wants to crush the Affordable Care Act."

Why it matters: Pelosi wants to steer the conversation around the potential Ginsburg replacement to health care, which polls show is a top issue for voters, especially amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration has urged the courts to strike down the law, and with it, protections for millions with pre-existing conditions.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar wrote a memo this week giving him authority over all new rules and banning any of the health agencies, including the FDA, from signing any new rules "regarding the nation’s foods, medicines, medical devices and other products," the New York Times reports.

Why it matters: The story further underscores reporting that health and scientific agencies are undergoing a deep politicization as the Trump administration races to develop a coronavirus vaccine, as Axios' Caitlin Owens has reported. Peter Lurie, a former associate commissioner of the FDA, told the Times that the Azar memo amounted to a "power grab."