Trump Tests Positive; Gilead Sells Remdesivir Direct; COVID Kills Pain?

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President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump announced they both tested positive for COVID-19 and are currently quarantining together. (MedPage Today)

Trump’s announcement on Twitter came just a few hours after one of his closest aides, Hope Hicks, tested positive as well. (Bloomberg)

However, Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen tested negative this morning, the VP’s press secretary tweeted.

This comes after 25 states saw a rise in cases in just the past week. (Axios)

As of 8:00 a.m. ET Friday, the unofficial U.S. COVID-19 toll stood at 7,279,065 cases and 207,816 deaths — up 44,808 and 853, respectively, in the past 24 hours.

Things are heating up over in Europe too, as Italy experienced more than 2,000 cases in 24 hours for the first time since the end of April. (U.S. News & World Report)

Gilead Sciences said its now meeting real-time demand for remdesivir (Veklury) in the U.S., and hospitals can now buy the drug directly from the company in whatever quantities they need.

A new study looking at contract tracing data confirmed children can indeed spread the virus, but not quite as much as young adults. (CNN)

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla was “disappointed” that Trump politicized the vaccine review timeline during the debate with Joe Biden. (Politico)

A mental health czar should be appointed to the White House’s coronavirus task force, says Monica Lewinsky. (Vanity Fair)

European mink farmers are now battling SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks in their herds. (Reuters)

But University of Arizona researchers find that coronavirus infection relieves neuropathic pain in an animal model, and speculate that an effect like that in humans could facilitate disease spread. (Pain)

In other news:

• The latest vectors for Salmonella outbreaks: pet hedgehogs and bearded dragons. (CDC)
• Chrissy Teigen and John Legend lost what would have been their third child after she suffered complications and severe bleeding halfway through the pregnancy. (CNN)
• Universal Health Services said it’s working to restore its network after a ransomware attack knocked it out for five days. (Reuters)
• How ironic — U.S. coal baron Robert Murray is seeking federal benefits to treat what he now says is black lung disease after years of stonewalling coal dust regulation. (Ohio Valley Resource)