A new study makes the case for more research to understand how bats are connected to emerging infectious diseases.
Why it matters: Bats have been the likely animal reservoir for a number of emerging viruses, including the novel coronavirus. Better understanding the role they play in disease ecology could help us head off the next pandemic.
A startup is developing a genetic test that could identify people at risk of an inflammatory overreaction to COVID-19.
Why it matters: If we can predict who might be in danger of a severe COVID-19 case, we can focus prevention and potentially treatment on those who might need it the most.
The U.S. on Friday reported over 57,000 new coronavirus cases, marking the third consecutive day of more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases nationwide, per data from the COVID Tracking Project.
The state of play: The U.S. is facing another wave of COVID-19 cases as temperatures begin to drop and states continue their gradual reopenings. The pace of coronavirus infections increased last week in 23 states plus Washington, D.C., and only declined in four states and Puerto Rico, Axios' Sam Baker writes.
Early global and national lessons of COVID-19 are already being used to plot a path to preventing the next pandemic.
Why it matters: As hard as it might be to accept, we're no less at risk for another infectious disease pandemic now than we were at the start of COVID-19. Unless we revamp how the international community monitors infectious disease and bolster our national defenses, the next one could be even worse.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) refused to take a COVID-19 test as demanded by his Democratic challenger, Jaime Harrison, forcing organizers of Friday's U.S. Senate debate to change the format at the last minute.
Why it matters: If Graham were to test positive for the virus it could delay confirmation hearings on Trump's Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett.
President Trump said he has been off coronavirus medication for at least eight hours, in his first televised event since his hospitalization for treatment of COVID-19.
Why it matters: Trump claimed on Fox News that he went to Walter Reed Medical Center because he felt tired and denied that he received supplemental oxygen because he had trouble breathing. White House physician Sean Conley said last week that the president received oxygen after his oxygen saturation level dropped below 94%.
NIAID director Anthony Fauci told CBS News Radio on Friday that the "data speak for themselves," there was "a superspreader event at the White House."
Driving the news: Several people who attended the White House's Rose Garden celebration for the introduction of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett have tested positive for the coronavirus, including President Trump. Photos and video from the event show that few in attendance wore masks.
A quarter of Americans say they know someone who has gone into work while feeling unwell, according to a survey provided exclusively to Axios by the Paid Leave for All campaign.
Why it matters: We will not be able to get the pandemic under control unless people can stay home when they're sick. Clearly, many Americans are not able to do that — especially people of color — without risking their job or their paycheck.
President Trump has called an experimental coronavirus therapy he received "a gift from Heaven" and promised to make it widely available — igniting yet another round of concern about politics encroaching on science.
What they're saying: "We have an emergency use authorization that I want to get signed immediately," Trump said in a video Thursday.
President Trump will be interviewed on camera during Friday's episode of Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" by Dr. Marc Siegel, the network announced.
Why it matters: It will be the president's first on-camera sit-down since being diagnosed with coronavirus last week. He called into Maria Bartiromo's Fox Business show and Sean Hannity's Fox News show on Thursday.
The D.C. Health Department is trying to jump-start contact tracing efforts around the White House's coronavirus outbreak. Tracing has been inadequate so far even as cases spread deeper into the city.
The big picture: The White House has decided not to move forward with recommended public health protocols of contact tracing and testing since President Trump tested positive for the virus.
HCA Healthcare is giving back $1.6 billion of federal bailout payments and paying back $4.4 billion in Medicare loans early. The money was intended to help hospitals weather the pandemic as patients delayed elective care.
Why it matters: Over the summer, the hospital industry said the pandemic was resulting in "the greatest financial crisis we have ever faced in our history." But HCA expects to report higher revenue and adjusted profits in the third quarter.
Europe is now recording far more new coronavirus cases than ever before.
The big picture: One reason is testing. Deaths and hospitalizations remain far below the levels seen in the spring, though they continue to tick upward.
