Health News

The World Health Organization announced on Wednesday the creation of a foundation to tap new sources of funding that could help ease a potential cash shortage as it leads the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

Gru and the popular yellow Minions from the animated "Despicable Me" movie franchise are urging people to keep their distance to help fight the spread of the novel coronavirus in a new public service announcement unveiled on Wednesday.

(Reuters - AstraZeneca Plc is testing one of its diabetes drugs as a treatment for COVID-19, even as doctors are advising diabetes patients infected by the coronavirus to stop taking the medicine and others like it because of a potentially dangerous side effect.

President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Moscow, the epicentre of Russia's coronavirus outbreak, had succeeded in preventing what he called worst-case scenarios as the city announced it would ease tough lockdown measures within days.

France's coronavirus death toll rose by less than 100 for the seventh day running on Wednesday while the number of confirmed cases climbed only modestly, according to data which indicated the worst of the pandemic could be over for the country for now.

A COVID-19 test and trace service will start in England on Thursday to allow the loosening of lockdown measures for most of the population, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 1,678,843 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 16,429 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 770 to 99,031.

Twenty U.S. states reported an increase in new cases of COVID-19 for the week ended May 24, up from 13 states in the prior week, as the death toll from the novel coronavirus approaches 100,000, according to a Reuters analysis.

The number of coronavirus cases in Zimbabwe has more than doubled to 132 over the past 24 hours, a government spokesman said on Wednesday.

Quest Diagnostics Inc on Wednesday started offering blood tests, temperature monitoring and other tailored services to U.S. employers as they attempt to reopen factories and offices after months under coronavirus-led lockdowns.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 117 on Wednesday, against 78 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases climbed to 584 from 397 on Tuesday.

Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis underscored how their portfolios are increasingly clashing on the commercial battlefield, announcing on Wednesday new data on drugs aimed at capturing market share from each other.

Drug developer Novavax Inc on Wednesday acquired Praha Vaccines, a unit of India's Cyrus Poonawalla Group, for about $167 million as it looks to boost capacity to produce its COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Kenya is rolling out voluntary public testing for the novel coronavirus in its biggest slum, where some residents say being declared virus-free boosts their chances of getting a job.

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now:

Kenya's government is facing growing criticism over quarantine centres it set up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with witnesses saying some are squalid and expose residents to the risk of catching COVID-19.

The French government on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to administer hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to patients suffering severe forms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

New diagnoses of one of the deadliest cancers fell by one-third in March and April as U.S. physicians and patients halted appointments and screenings during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Canadian drug discovery technology company AbCellera, which analyzes and identifies antibodies for pharmaceutical companies working on a coronavirus treatment and other medicines, said on Wednesday it had raised $105 million in funds.

Malaysian health authorities on Wednesday reported 15 new coronavirus cases, raising the cumulative total to 7,619 cases.