The long road still ahead for the U.S.

Here's the latest update: U.K. economy plunges into recession China seals off cities near North Korea border Germany leads EU in border reopening plans  The long road still ahead America's top infectious-disease official said Tuesday that the country is moving in the right direction to contain the coronavirus, but that the final destination is still a way off. In a Senate committee hearing where some lawmakers donned colorful masks and others logged in from home offices, Anthony Fauci said that while the U.S. has made progress in its fight against the novel coronavirus, reopening the country too soon could lead to needless suffering and death.  There was a broad consensus among National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Fauci, testing czar Brett Giroir and other heads of top health-care agencies that mass testing, contact tracing, surveillance and developing drugs and vaccines are critical to moving U.S. preparedness forward. But such measures are either nonexistent or spotty even as some states begin to emerge from lockdown. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, center right, speaks via teleconference during a Senate committee hearing Tuesday. Photographer: Win McNamee/Getty Images For students to return to now-empty college campuses, for instance, Giroir laid out a set of potential strategies, including quick on-site screening, surveillance testing of students at different times as a way of monitoring the virus's circulation, pooling samples from patients to stretch tests further and even looking for signs of coronavirus in campus wastewater. How feasible such aggressive steps will be at thousands of U.S. colleges, let alone the entire country, is hard to know. The U.S. now aims to test 12.9 million people over the next four weeks, or more tests than the U.S. has done in the entire pandemic to date. If achievable, that would get close to the minimum of 500,000 tests daily that experts say is needed. It'll also make testing that's intrinsic to public-health measures like contact tracing and surveillance more doable. But those measures, too, are still being built up. Contact-tracing capacity, for instance, needs to be built out by September, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield said.—Emma Court Listen up Latest Podcast: The Etiquette of Distancing As communities open up, social interactions are all new in the era of Covid-19. Bloomberg reporter Kristen V. Brown collected listener questions around the new normal, while an expert guest clears up any confusion. Also see: Who Bears the Economic Pain of Covid-19? While the last recession led to greater job losses for men in the U.S., the current downturn is disproportionately hurting women's employment—with ramifications that could be long-lasting. See how. What you should read Researcher Alleges China Virus Disinformation Army of bot accounts linked to an alleged propaganda campaign. Virus App Spotlights Small U.K. Island App scheduled to be rolled out by mid-May as U.K. re-opens. Covid Patients' Genomes to Be Analyzed  Scientific push to determine who's most vulnerable to deadliest symptoms. Coronavirus Hits EU Slaughterhouses Cases have recently climbed at Irish, German processing plants. Hong Kong's Streak Without Local Spread Ends Mystery case of grandmother with no travel history emerges. Know someone else who would like this newsletter?  Have them sign up here. Have any questions, concerns, or news tips on Covid-19 news? Get in touch or help us cover the story. Like this newsletter? Subscribe for unlimited access to trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and gain expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close. Follow Us Get the newsletter You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Coronavirus Daily newsletter. Unsubscribe | Bloomberg.com | Contact Us Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022