Reuters Health News Summary
Following is a summary of current health news briefs.
U.S. CDC reports 2,886,267 coronavirus cases
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reported 2,886,267 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 44,361 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 235 to 129,811. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on July 5 compared with its previous report on Sunday.(https://bit.ly/2BROCTB)
Spanish island trials COVID-19 tracing app that will create virtual outbreak
Residents of the Spanish island of La Gomera have started downloading a new app on their phones aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19 infections in a pilot which will test the technology by simulating an outbreak of the disease. If the test succeeds on the island, which with a population of around 22,000 is one of the smallest in the Canary archipelago popular with tourists, it may be rolled out nationwide.
U.S. tops 130,000 deaths from COVID-19 after record surge in cases
The number of U.S. coronavirus deaths exceeded 130,000 on Monday, following a surge of new cases that has put President Donald Trump's handling of the crisis under the microscope and derailed efforts to restart the economy. The overall rate of increase in U.S. deaths has been on a downward trend despite case numbers surging to record levels in recent days, but health experts warn fatalities are a lagging indicator, showing up weeks or even months after cases rise.
Strains of hope: Chilean nurse serenades COVID-19 patients with violin
When most Chilean nurses finish their long shifts caring for the country's many COVID-19 patients, there is little else on their minds but seeing their families, eating and sleeping. Not so Damaris Silva, who twice a week when she finishes her shift at 6 p.m. picks up her violin and returns to the ward.
Where COVID-19 is spreading fastest as U.S. cases rise 27% in past week
The United States saw a 27% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended July 5 compared to the previous seven days, with 24 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning. Nationally, 7.5% of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, up from 7% the prior week and 5% two weeks ago, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak.
Russia cracks down on marmot hunting after bubonic plague alert
Russia said on Monday it had stepped up patrols to stop people hunting marmots near its border with China and Mongolia after the countries reported possible cases of bubonic plague, which can be carried by the animals. Authorities in Bayan Nur, a city in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia, issued a warning on Sunday after a hospital reported a suspected case of the deadly disease.
U.S. health official Fauci says COVID-19 outbreak is 'serious situation'
U.S. health official Anthony Fauci said on Monday that the current state of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States "is really not good" and a "serious situation that we have to address immediately." The United States is still "knee-deep" in the first wave of the illnesses, having never gotten the case number as low as planned, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said during a live internet interview with National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins.
U.S. FDA alerts on false positive result from Becton Dickinson COVID-19 test
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration alerted clinical laboratories and healthcare providers on Monday about false positive results from one of Becton Dickinson and Co's COVID-19 molecular diagnostic tests. The test, designed to detect viral nucleic acid from the virus that causes COVID-19, is in use in nearly every state across the U.S. at hundreds of laboratories.
WHO reviewing report urging new guidance over airborne spread of coronavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) is reviewing a report urging it to update guidance on the novel coronavirus after more than 200 scientists, in a letter to the health agency, outlined evidence the virus can spread in tiny airborne particles. The WHO says SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, spreads primarily through small droplets expelled from the nose and mouth of an infected person that quickly sink to the ground.
Life-saving HIV drugs risk running out as COVID-19 hits supplies: WHO
More than a third of the world's countries say they are at risk of running out of life-saving AIDS drugs because of disruptions to supply lines and other problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Twenty-four out of those 73 nations have already reported critically low supplies of the vital antiretroviral drugs, the agency said.
