Coronavirus updates: Colleges could reopen if they test students every 2 days; Fauci 'cautiously optimistic' for vaccine this year.
In its biggest coronavirus vaccine deal yet, the U.S. said Friday it will pay French pharmaceutical company Sanofi and Great Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline up to $2.1 billion to test and produce 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirus vaccine.
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The deal is part of Operation Warp Speed, a White House-led initiative aimed at getting a vaccine to stop SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
On Capitol Hill, Dr. Anthony Fauci testified Friday before a special House panel. He told the committee that he's "cautiously optimistic" that by late fall or early winter a vaccine now being tested would be deemed safe and effective.
Also in Washington, the extra $600 in federal unemployment aid that helped many Americans stay afloat amid the coronavirus pandemic is expiring as plans for additional stimulus stalled in a deadlocked Senate.
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Here are some significant developments:
A new survey shows fewer Americans want to resume daily activities like going to restaurants or sending children to school as cases spike.
It could be safe for students to return to campus this fall if colleges conduct rapid coronavirus screening every two days, according to a study published Friday.
An outbreak at a Georgia summer camp provides further evidence that children of all ages are susceptible to infection and "might play an important role in transmission," according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Friday.
The pandemic is forcing Muslim families worldwide to readjust their celebrations this week for Eid al-Adha, the second of two major Muslim holidays, as families scale back travel and adhere to face social distancing guidelines.
A Florida couple was arrested for breaking COVID-19 quarantine and declared an "immediate danger."
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Georgia to reopen temporary hospital at giant convention center
After winding down operations at the end of May, a temporary hospital at one of the nation's largest convention centers will reopen and begin receiving COVID-19 patients next week, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday.
The Georgia World Congress Center will reopen with a total capacity of 120 beds and will house an initial surge of 60 beds.
"These additional hospital beds will provide relief to surrounding healthcare facilities while providing top notch care for patients," Kemp said in a statement.
More than 3,700 people have died and more than 186,000 people have tested positive for the virus in Georgia, which was the first state to begin reopening businesses at the end of April.
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Study finds children carry more virus, but experts aren't surprised
A study out a Chicago children’s hospital Thursday found that children younger than 5 years with mild to moderate COVID-19 had high amounts of virus in their noses and throats as compared with older children and adults, suggesting that young children "can potentially be important drivers of SARS-CoV-2 spread in the general population."
However, more virus doesn't necessarily mean more transmission, scientists say. Young children still appear to be less likely to transmit, get infected and be symptomatic, said George Rutherford, head of infectious disease and global epidemiology at the University of California-San Francisco.
"It’s obviously something that is counterintuitive to the prevailing narrative," said Rutherford, who is also a pediatrician.
Florida sheriffs meet with Trump after conference with COVID infected colleague
Florida sheriffs who had attended a conference this week with a COVID-19-infected colleague met Friday afternoon with President Donald Trump.
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Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood reported his positive test just hours before more than a dozen other sheriffs stood with Trump on the Tampa International Airport tarmac.
Chitwood had attended the Florida Sheriff's Association conference earlier this week in Bonita Springs. Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and law enforcement officers from around the state were also at the conference.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno, who hosted the conference and whose agency polices Bonita Springs, stood behind Trump along with 14 other sheriffs as Trump praised them and announced he had received "dozens" of their endorsements. Neither Trump nor the sheriffs wore masks. Two of the sheriffs said they had been rapid-tested for COVID-19 before meeting with Trump.
Testing the students every two days is not practical.