The latest The first confirmed case of coronavirus infection in the United States was Jan. 20, 2020. But a new study by the National Institutes of Health, published Tuesday in Clinical Infectious Diseases, suggests that some people in the U.S. may have had the coronavirus as early as December 2019. One key observation in that report: A person in Illinois who gave blood Jan. 7, 2020, tested positive for antibodies to SARS-CoV-2. Because antibodies typically take a few weeks to become detectable, the virus could have been in Illinois as early as Christmas Eve 2019, the NIH team wrote. The hunt for the origins of the coronavirus remains securely in the spotlight, though no fresh evidence has emerged. Here's a look inside the Trump administration's inquiries into the source of the virus. Francis Collins, who directs the NIH, was particularly critical of China's lack of transparency. Citing workers at the Wuhan Institute of Virology who fell ill in November 2019, Collins told The Post: "We have to have answers to questions that have not been answered." The person who served as Food and Drug Administration commissioner under President Donald Trump is joining a venture capital firm that backed vaccine maker Moderna. Stephen Hahn will become the chief medical officer at Flagship Pioneering, the life sciences venture firm said Monday; that company incubated Moderna years ago. Walter Shaub, a senior ethics fellow at the Project On Government Oversight and the former director of the Office of Government Ethics, told The Post Hahn's hiring is an example of "one of many gaps in our weak ethics laws." A dispute over vaccination status is taking place in a South Dakota courtroom, where a federal judge has filed criminal contempt charges against three members of the U.S. Marshals Service. U.S. District Judge Charles Kornmann asked the three marshals whether they were vaccinated, and when a deputy marshal refused to answer, the judge ordered her out of the courtroom. The other marshals left, too, taking defendants with them. In a letter, the judge said he expects to know the vaccination status of people working in the courtroom as a matter of "protecting all of us who serve the public." Airbnb announced a new policy Tuesday to prevent landlords from using its platform to rent property that becomes available after evictions. Airbnb addressed that scenario this week because a federal moratorium on evictions, meant to protect tenants who could not pay rent during the pandemic, is set to expire June 30. The rental company said it is partnering with cities to identify spaces where people have been evicted; the policy preventing listings of such properties will last at least through 2021's end. If you've quit your job for reasons related to the pandemic, The Post wants to hear from you. Also, if you're looking for tips on how to adjust to life after a year-and-a-half warped by the coronavirus, allow me to introduce you to The Post's latest newsletter: A Better Week, which you can sign up for at any time and runs for seven days. The email course will teach you tested strategies to keep your calendar from getting out of control. Other important news Comedian Jon Stewart promoted the lab leak hypothesis, without offering evidence, on Stephen Colbert's late night show. Dozens of players, coaches and others involved in the Copa America soccer tournament in Brazil have already tested positive for the coronavirus. Across the United States, it's a tale of two classrooms — one in which virtual learning is being discarded, and the other where it is embraced even more fully. Travel rules are gradually being relaxed in Hawaii, where it's no longer necessary to be tested or quarantined when hopping between islands. | 
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