President Donald Trump did not wear a mask as a coronavirus precaution during a visit Tuesday to a Honeywell factory in Phoenix, which is making N95 masks for the federal government’s response to the pandemic.
During a private call on Friday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott admitted that “every scientific and medical report shows” state reopenings “ipso facto” lead to an increase in novel coronavirus cases, even as he publicly announced plans that same week to end an executive stay-at-home order in the state.
The Trump White House is planning to wind down its coronavirus task force in the coming weeks and instead ask agencies to take control of the response efforts. "We're having a conversation about that and about what the proper time is for the task force to complete its work," Vice President Mike Pence said at a briefing for reporters on Tuesday.
Rick Bright, the former director of the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), filed a whistleblower complaint Tuesday alleging that the Department of Health and Human Services failed to take early action to mitigate the threat of the novel coronavirus.
Antibody tests have been touted as a way to provide people with so-called "immunity passports" that would allow them to hold jobs without worrying they are contagious. And while many businesses seek them, the reality is that while production is growing the tests are not yet commonplace, and even the best among them will not provide all the answers businesses want.