Four top U.S. public health officials testified before the House Energy & Commerce Committee on Tuesday on the current state of the federal response to the coronavirus outbreak throughout the United States. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci told lawmakers that the nation is now seeing a "disturbing surge" of new infections in a number of states, reasoning that the main culprit behind the increase is community spread.
"Right now that next couple of weeks are going to be critical in our ability to address those surges we are seeing in Florida, Texas, Arizona, and other states," Fauci warned Congress.
Fauci noted that during the initial outbreak of the coronavirus in the United States, confirmed cases had risen to about 30,000 infections per day and then plateaued to about 20,000 a day. Yet, we have begun to rise again, with new infection rates climbing back to about 30,000 a day.
Other health officials testifying--Director of the Centers for Disease control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and U.S. Public Health Service head Admiral Brett Giroir--and Fauci told lawmakers that they have not been asked to slow down virus testing, despite what President Donald Trump claimed over the weekend at a political rally in Tulsa.
Meanwhile, Germany has begun renewing some of its lockdown restrictions in North Rhine-Westphalia state after more than 1,500 people tested positive stemming from an outbreak at a meat factory, according to the Associated Press. In contrast, Britain will begin easing social restrictions on public businesses like pubs, theaters, churches and hair salons in early July.
Total Global Cases: Over 9.3 Million
Total Deaths: Over 479,000
Total Recovered: Over 5 Million
Vaccine Check-in
Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY) announced on Tuesday that the French drugmaker plans accelerate its coronavirus vaccine's timeline, with the company now expecting to enter a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of the candidate its developing in partnership with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) in September. The partners added that the vaccine could obtain full approval in the first half of 2021 by the earliest.
In addition, Sanofi has expanded its vaccine partnership with Translate Bio (NASDAQ: TBIO) on Tuesday. The two companies plan to use their existing collaboration to develop mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases, including COVID-19. As part of the deal, Translate Bio will receive $425 million in upfront payment and is eligible to receive up to $1.9 billion in potential royalties of worldwide sales of developed vaccines. On the other side of the deal, Sanofi is to receive exclusive worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccines made using Translate Bio's technology. The two plan to begin clinical trials of their coronavirus vaccine candidate by the end of the year.