May 20, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump says he plans to stop taking hydroxychloroquine "in a day or two"

Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Trump said on Wednesday that he plans to stop taking hydroxychloroquine as a defense against the novel coronavirus when his regimen finishes "in a day or two."

Why it matters: The FDA warned last month that the antimalarial drug appears to cause some serious and potentially life-threatening side effects in coronavirus patients.

Flashback: On Tuesday, when pressed on the FDA's warning, Trump responded by attacking a non-peer reviewed study that found an increased risk of death associated with patients who were only treated with the antimalarial drug — calling it a "false study."

  • Trump said on Monday that he had been taking hydroxychloroquine for "about a week and a half."

Go deeper: Trump dismisses FDA warnings about hydroxychloroquine

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Orion Rummler
Aug 27, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Trump admin to buy 150 million rapid COVID-19 tests from Abbott

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf and President Trump on Aug. 27. Photo: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

The Trump administration plans to purchase 150 million rapid coronavirus tests from Abbott Laboratories, the White House announced Thursday.

Why it matters: Abbott said Wednesday it plans to make 50 million of the $5 coronavirus tests by the start of October. COVID-19 testing, which is essential to tracking the spread of the virus, declined across the U.S. this month.

Axios
Updated Oct 7, 2020 - Health

World coronavirus updates

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Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Axios Visuals

New Zealand now has active no coronavirus cases in the community after the final six people linked to the Auckland cluster recovered, the country's Health Ministry confirmed in an email Wednesday.

The big picture: The country's second outbreak won't officially be declared closed until there have been "no new cases for two incubation periods," the ministry said. Auckland will join the rest of NZ in enjoying no domestic restrictions from late Wednesday, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said, declaring that NZ had "beat the virus again."

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Orion Rummler
Aug 27, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Pelosi says stimulus talks will resume when White House agrees to $2.2 trillion

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi speaks to reporters on Aug. 27. Photo: Oliver Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after a 25-minute phone call with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows on Thursday that the two sides remain at a "tragic impasse" over a coronavirus relief package.

The state of play: Democrats are willing to agree to a $2.2 trillion stimulus deal — $1.2 trillion less than the HEROES Act that the House passed in May, Pelosi said. She called on the Trump administration to meet them in the middle, and she said talks would not resume unless they do so.

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