Health News

Lockdowns imposed to curb the spread of COVID-19 have saved millions of lives and easing them now carries high risks, according to two international studies published on Monday.

An Italian administrative court has canceled a contract between diagnostics group Diasorin and a hospital in the northern region on Lombardy for the development of a coronavirus antibody test, a ruling seen by Reuters showed on Monday.

The World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries on Monday to press on with efforts to contain the novel coronovirus, noting the pandemic was worsening globally and had not peaked in central America.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 65 on Monday against 53 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose to 280 from 197 on Sunday.

The European health regulator said on Monday it would look to fast-track the approval of Gilead Sciences Inc's antiviral remdesivir as a potential COVID-19 treatment in Europe after the U.S. drugmaker submitted its marketing application.

After removing cumulative numbers for how many people have died in Brazil of coronavirus from a national website, the Health Ministry sowed further confusion and controversy by releasing two contradictory sets of figures for the latest tally of infection cases and fatalities.

Sweden last week recorded no excess mortality compared to the average of the past five years for the first time since COVID-19 struck a country whose death toll in the pandemic has eclipsed that of its neighbours, statistics showed on Monday.

Aimmune Therapeutics Inc said on Monday 80% of patients being treated with its drug Palforzia were successfully desensitized to peanut proteins after two years of daily dosing, sending its shares up 6%.

Iran's health ministry urged people on Monday to wear face masks in public areas, state television reported, following warnings that the Islamic Republic could face a new wave of coronavirus infections.

Authorities in Pakistan have stepped up enforcement of government safety measures after a rise in the daily number of coronavirus infections pushed total cases to more than 100,000.

Poland will close two coal mines owned by state-run JSW and ten mines of PGG group on Tuesday for three weeks to stop the spread of the new coronavirus among miners, Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin said.

Up to 12 people have been found infected with Ebola in a new outbreak of the deadly disease in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

The United Kingdom's death toll from confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose by 55 to 40,597 as of 1600 GMT on June 7, the lowest rise since a lockdown was imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson in March, according to government data published on Monday.

Moscow is lifting its months-long coronavirus lockdown, mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Monday, declaring that the pandemic was on the wane and it was possible to resume normal life during the course of June.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday allowed emergency use of a COVID-19 saliva test made by privately held Phosphorus Diagnostics LLC that allows people to send in their saliva samples to the company's laboratory for testing.

Europe wants to be master of its own destiny in producing essential drugs and finding COVID-19 treatments, but it's got a problem. It relies on the United States for a critical ingredient: blood plasma.

EU antitrust enforcers, boosted by recent court victories, on Monday reinforced their case against Israeli drugmaker Teva over its deal with rival Cephalon to delay selling a generic version of its sleep disorder drug modafinil.

Japan will stop short of offering blanket coronavirus tests, and instead target the vulnerable and those most at risk in seeking to prevent a second wave of infections, the minister in charge of policies to combat the health crisis said.

Gene and cell therapy firm Oxford Biomedica said on Monday it signed a new manufacturing agreement to help it scale up production of AstraZeneca's potential COVID-19 vaccine to cater to demand in the United Kingdom and Europe.

Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jadwiga Emilewicz said on Monday that she saw no need to introduce new restrictions or re-instate previous ones despite a sudden hike in new infections over the weekend.