 Welcome to the coronavirus weekly brief. We're your hosts. I'm David Sturman. And I'm Melissa Salikberg with New America. Here are the headlines you need to know. On Sunday, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced that it had lost $49.7 billion in quarter one, and that it had sold all shares in US airlines. At a shareholders meeting, Buffett said he was wrong to invest in airlines and the world had changed due to the virus. Buffett's company had held an 11% stake in Delta Airlines, 10% of American Airlines, 10% of Southwest Airlines, and 9% of United Airlines prior to the sale, according to the BBC. And the US Food and Drug Administration approved emergency use authorization of rem to severe for coronavirus patients on May 1st. It is the first authorized therapy drug for COVID-19 in the United States, according to the FDA letter. Furthermore, FDA Chief Scientist Denise Hinton said in the letter that there is, quote, no adequate approved and available alternative to the emergency use of rem to severe for the treatment of COVID-19, unquote, and that, quote, the known and potential benefits of rem to severe when used to treat COVID-19 outweigh the known and potential risks of such products, unquote. The drug taken intravenously is taken for 10 consecutive days for those on ventilators and for five days for those not on ventilators. According to drugmaker Gilead Sciences, the ideal dosage has not been determined, but this is a start. Last week, Gilead announced that it plans to give away the first 1.5 million doses of rem to severe their entire existing supply and are prepared to ramp up to produce multiple millions of treatment courses by the end of the year, according to stat news. Preliminary data released by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases showed that among more than 1,000 hospitalized COVID-19 patients around the world, patients receiving rem to severe had a median recovery time of 11 days versus a median recovery time of 15 days for those receiving a placebo. On Sunday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo asserted there is, quote, enormous evidence, unquote, that the virus emerged in a lab in China during an interview with ABCs this week, but he did not provide evidence to back up to claim. Pompeo added, quote, look, the best experts so far seem to think it was manmade. I have no reason to disbelieve that at this point, unquote. However, the US intelligence community has concluded otherwise, viewing a laboratory origin as a possibility, but one lacking evidence. And as the Washington Post notes, quote, many scientists argued that the evidence tilts firmly towards the natural transmission, unquote. When asked about that, Pompeo seemed to backtrack saying, that's right. I agree with that. Similar to flu shots, coronavirus vaccines may become an annual event according to the lead Oxford scientists. Doctors recommend getting flu shots every year because the influenza virus mutates relatively quickly. So each year's flu shot is slightly different. Although the coronavirus does not seem to mutate as quickly as the influenza virus, it's, quote, quite a tricky virus in terms of generating long-standing immune responses to it, unquote, according to Oxford scientists Sir John Bell in a New York Times report. He suggests that annual vaccinations against coronaviruses are likely stating, quote, that of course remains to be seen, but that's my bet at the moment that this is likely to be a seasonal coronavirus vaccine, unquote. Bell is part of the Oxford team working on a coronavirus vaccine that may become available in limited quantities by September and he estimates that they are likely to, quote, get a signal by June, unquote, if the Oxford vaccine works or not. Russia reported 10,633 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday. It's fourth record single day increase in a row. The country now has more than 134,000 total cases, the seventh highest number in the world and 1,280 deaths. Russia has enforced a lockdown since the end of March and last week, Russian president, Vladimir Putin, extended the lockdown through May 11th. In addition, Afghanistan has also reported its biggest one day increase in new infections to date with 235 new coronavirus cases, bringing the total number of infections to 2,704. A health ministry spokesman said that 256 health workers had also tested positive across the country. Seven states in the Eastern US have agreed to collectively buy coronavirus supplies as state governments across America plan for reopening. Coronavirus researchers predict a higher death toll from coronavirus this summer than previously expected. Now that more than 30 states across the country have either East stay at home restrictions or have removed them altogether according to a report by CNN. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Model from the University of Washington estimates that more than 72,000 Americans will likely die by August. Many of these states have not flattened the coronavirus rate of infection curves, nor have they seen a downward trend in the rate of infections over a two week period. One of the main protocols of the White House recommendations before state governments open up their economies. White House Coronavirus Task Force member, Dr. Anthony Fauci, believes infections and deaths of the quote unquote inevitable second wave of the virus will depend on how the country prepares and responds. On Sunday, the governors of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware came together to announce that they, along with Massachusetts and Rhode Island, will jointly purchase masks, gowns, gloves, ventilators and other medical and protective equipment needed to fight the coronavirus. The governor's hope that these measures will help to keep prices low and stabilize the supply chain. These states have agreed last month that they would coordinate the reopening of their respective states. To see our daily grief, go to the address in our show notes and follow us on Twitter at New America ISP. Tune in next Monday for our next episode.