Coronavirus Watch: US investing $3.2B to develop treatments

The U.S. is investing $3.2 billion to advance development of antiviral treatments for COVID-19, the Biden administration announced Thursday.

The plan, called the Antiviral Program for Pandemics, will support research to identify and accelerate the availability of treatment options for COVID-19, as well as build platforms for the discovery and development of antivirals for future viruses, the Department of Health and Human Services said in a press release.

"There are few treatments that exist for many of the viruses that have what we call pandemic potential," Dr. Anthony Fauci said at a White House briefing Thursday. "Vaccines clearly remain the centerpiece of our arsenal against COVID-19. However, antivirals can be and are an important complement to existing vaccines."

It's Thursday, and this is the Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here's more news you need to know:

• A swath of Missouri is seeing a big rise in cases and hospitalizations as tourists eager to get out after being cooped up for a year make their way to popular destinations like Branson and Lake of the Ozarks. The number of patients in intensive care has tripled.
• New York City will move about 8,000 homeless people out of the hotel rooms granted to them at the start of the pandemic and back into shelters by the end of July so that the hotels can reopen, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
• More than 350 Indonesian doctors and health care workers have contracted COVID-19, and dozens have been hospitalized despite being jabbed with the Chinese vaccine Sinovac, authorities said. Indonesia is battling a severe outbreak believed to be driven by the more transmissible delta variant.

Today's numbers: The U.S. has reported more than 33 million COVID-19 cases and 600,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Worldwide, there have been more than 177 million cases and more than 3.8 million deaths. Nearly 53% of people in the U.S. have received at least one vaccine shot, and about 44% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

Tracking the pandemic: See the numbers in your area here. See where cases are rising here. See vaccination rates here. And here, compare vaccinations rates worldwide and see which countries are using which vaccines.

– Grace Hauck, Paste BN breaking news reporter, @grace_hauck