Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

The U.S. is considering a new method of testing for the coronavirus in which samples from many people are pooled and tested at the same time, top health officials say.

First reported by the Washington Post, "pool testing" would allow more people to be tested with fewer resources.

If a batch of samples tests positive, each person in the batch could be retested to quickly find and isolate the infected person. If a batch tests negative, all the people in that group are considered virus-free.

"Something's not working," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said of the current testing methods.

"What you need to do is find the penetration of infected people in your society. And the only way you know that is by casting a broad net," Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus response team, told the Post.

Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the administration's team, said pool testing could drastically expand the nation's knowledge of how and where COVID-19 is spreading, CNN reported.

"If you look around the globe, the way people are doing a million tests or 10 million tests is they're doing pooling," Birx said during an online conference of the American Society for Microbiology. "Pooling would give us the capacity to go from a half a million tests a day to potentially 5 million individuals tested per day by those poolings."

At least 32 states are reporting an increase in new coronavirus cases in the past week compared to the previous week. Eleven of those states, including Arizona, Florida and Texas, have seen a rise of 50% or more.

On Thursday, the U.S. reported 39,972 new coronavirus infections, the biggest one-day jump since the pandemic began.

Overall, the U.S. has 2.4 million confirmed cases and 124,749 people have died from the new coronavirus. Worldwide, more than 9.6 million people have been infected and more than 491,000 deaths have been recorded.

Latest Developments

United States:

-San Francisco Mayor London Breed said the city is scaling back reopening plans, days after announcing things would open faster than scheduled. Breed said Friday that businesses scheduled to open Monday as the next step in the city's plan would instead stay closed. Those include hair salors, museums, outdoor bars, tattoo parlors and zoos.

-In Texas, where infections are spiking, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered bars to close and restaurants to reduce capacity. Outdoor gatherings of 100 or more people must be approved by local governments.

-Texas' Harris County, home to Houston, reimplemented a stay-at-home order. Under the order, residents should avoid leaving home except for the most essential needs like going to the grocery store for food and medicine. All but essential workers should work from home, if possible.

-Florida reported a record 8,942 new confirmed coronavirus infections on Thursday, up from 5,508 two days ago.

-Florida shut down on-site alcohol consumption at bars, according to Halsey Beshears, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation secretary.

-At a briefing with the White House coronavirus task force, Vice President Mike Pence said it is "encouraging news" that new cases of coronavirus are increasingly among young Americans who are less susceptible to serious outcomes of COVID-19. But he added, "Younger Americans have a particular responsibility to make sure that they're not carrying the coronavirus into settings where they would expose the most vulnerable." Other members of the task force encouraged everyone, but especially people under age 40, to follow social distancing guidelines, wear masks and wash their hands frequently. Pence, however, said people should follow state and local guidance on masks.

-Dr. Fauci, also at the task force briefing, said young Americans have "an individual responsibility" to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus especially because they may have mild cases with few symptoms. "So if you get infected, you will infect someone else, who clearly will infect someone else," he said. "So people are infecting other people. And then ultimately, you will infect someone who's vulnerable. Now that may be somebody's grandmother, grandfather, uncle who's on chemotherapy, aunt who's on radiation or chemotherapy or a child who has leukemia."

-When asked why the Trump campaign continues to have political rallies without requiring masks, despite the rise in coronavirus cases, Pence responded that freedom of speech and the right to assemble are in the U.S. Constitution. "Even in a health crisis, the American people don't forfeit our constitutional rights," he said, adding that the campaign worked with state officials to establish safe areas where people could choose to participate in the political process.

-Ahead of next week's July 4 holiday, American Airlines announced it is selling every seat on its planes beginning July 1. Delta and Southwest have said they are capping capacity in an attempt to keep middle seats open and promote social distancing.

-Vaxart Inc. said the Trump administration's Operation Warp Speed is funding a study of its potential COVID-19 vaccine on monkeys. Vaxart said the vaccine is an oral tablet and is easier to store and administer than injectable ones.

-The National Basketball Association and the players union have jointly announced that 16 players have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Worldwide:

-The World Health Organization said it needs $31.3 billion over the next year to develop and roll out tests, treatments and vaccines. A global initiative led by The WHO aims to deliver 2 billion vaccine dozes by the end of 2021.

-Belgium's coastal town are using a new system to track mobile phones in order to limit crowding of seaside resorts and beaches that formally open for the summer season on Saturday, according to The Guardian. Information from the phones will be displayed on a website to alert tourists to areas that are getting crowded. Officials hope they'll choose a less busy spot.

-Russia reported 6,800 new coronavirus cases, the first daily rise below 7,000 since late April, taking its nationwide tally of infections to 620,794.

-Japan recorded more than 100 new infections on Friday for the first time since May 9, reaching its highest daily total since it eased a lockdown, Kyodo News reported.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

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