Sign up for our daily briefing

Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Denver news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Des Moines news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Tampa Bay news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Charlotte news in your inbox

Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Please enter a valid email.

Please enter a valid email.

Subscription failed
Thank you for subscribing!

Texas asks schools to hold online-only classes through November

Medical workers handling coronavirus test samples in Houston on July 17. Photo: Go Nakamura/Getty Images

Texas on Friday gave public schools the ability to offer online-only instruction for up to the first eight weeks of the school year to prevent the coronavirus from spreading, AP reports.

Why it matters: Texas has effectively shut down campuses across the state until November. The Trump administration has threatened to withhold funding from schools that do not fully reopen at the start of the academic year, although it's not clear what authority it has to unilaterally do so.

By the numbers: Texas reported 10,256 new cases and 174 new fatalities from coronavirus on Friday, its highest single-day casualty count since the start of the pandemic.

  • Over the past five days, 543 people in the state have died from coronavirus, while 10,632 are currently hospitalized for the virus.

The big picture: California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) also announced guidance for public schools on Friday.

  • California schools in high-risk counties cannot reopen for in-person learning unless their risk status has been downgraded by the California health department for two consecutive weeks.

Go deeper: The coming political brawl over reopening schools

Go deeper

Axios
Updated 21 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Eniola Odetunde/Axios

  1. Health: One year of the coronavirus — Bill and Melinda Gates warn of "immunity inequality" — Communities of color are falling behind in America's vaccine effort.
  2. Vaccine: Vaccine hesitancy is decreasing in the U.S.
  3. Politics: Biden admin to boost COVID vaccine delivery to states for at least 3 weeks — Hundreds of Biden staffers receive COVID vaccine — Axios-Ipsos poll: Trust in federal COVID-19 response surges.
  4. Business: Bankruptcy filings hit decade-high last year.
  5. World: U.K. surpasses 100,000 COVID-19 deaths — 44% of Israelis have already received at least one vaccine dose.
  6. Sports: Europe's 20 richest soccer clubs report 12% revenue hit due to coronavirus — Pandemic has cost the NCAA $600 million — CDC looks at lessons learned from NFL's testing and contact tracing.
Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Ursula Perano, Sam Baker
Updated Oct 25, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trumpworld coronavirus tracker

Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

An outbreak of COVID-19 has struck the White House — including the president himself — just weeks before the 2020 election.

Why it matters: If the president can get infected, anyone can. And the scramble to figure out the scope of this outbreak is a high-profile, high-stakes microcosm of America's larger failures to contain the virus and to stand up a contact-tracing system that can respond to new cases before they have a chance to become outbreaks.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow
Courtenay Brown
Updated 7 mins ago - Economy & Business

2020 was the economy's worst year since 1946

Source: FRED; Billions of chained 2012 dollars; Chart: Axios Visuals

One of the last major economic report cards of the Trump era lends perspective to the historic damage caused by the pandemic, which continued to weigh on growth in the final quarter of 2020.

By the numbers: The U.S. economy grew at a 4% annualized pace in the fourth quarter, a sharp slowdown in growth compared to the prior quarter. For the full year, the economy shrank by 3.5% — the first annual contraction since the financial crisis and the worst decline since 1946.

Go deeper (1 min. read)Arrow