Health News

Beijing's municipal government said on Friday it will lower its COVID-19 emergency response from level II to level III effective from Saturday, state media reported.

An influential medical journal article that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients was retracted on Thursday, adding to controversy around a drug championed by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Russia reported 8,726 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, pushing the total number of infections to 449,834.

Scientists are resuming COVID-19 trials of the now world-famous drug hydroxychloroquine, as confusion continues to reign about the anti-malarial hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential "game-changer" in fighting the pandemic.

Singapore's health ministry on Friday confirmed another 261 coronavirus cases, the city-state's smallest increase in nearly two months, taking its tally to 37,183.

Four weeks ago, with its most important festival coming up and millions of people facing starvation as economic activity dwindled, Pakistan lifted a two-month-long coronavirus lockdown.  

Japanese industrial conglomerates Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corp will join with Miraca Holdings to increase production of antigen-based coronavirus tests, aiding in the country's effort to screen more people for the new virus.

Thailand on Friday reported one new coronavirus infection and no new deaths, taking its total confirmed cases to 3,102, of which 58 have been fatalities.

Australia's biggest biotech firm CSL Ltd said it would help fund the development of a University of Queensland COVID-19 vaccine candidate and if it was successful, could make up to one hundred million doses towards the end of next year.

The number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil blew past Italy's toll on Thursday, while Mexico reported a record number of new cases, as regional leaders in Latin America push to end quarantine measures and kick their economies back into gear.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 394 to 183,271, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday.

The number of new novel coronavirus infections in Mexico reported on Thursday surpassed the record set just the previous day, and officials reported 816 more deaths as the pandemic engulfs Latin America's major nations.

The GAVI vaccines alliance said on Thursday it had raised $8.8 billion from international donor governments, companies and philanthropic foundations to fund its immunisation programmes through to 2025.

Novavax Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will give the late-stage biotech company up to $60 million to fund the manufacturing of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine.

A group of conservative U.S. doctors has sued the Food and Drug Administration for limiting use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, arguing that the therapy should be made widely available to fight the pandemic.

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro allowed more than 10,000 street vendors to go back to work on Thursday and Brazil's president pressed for legal action to force local governments to reopen beaches, as the coronavirus death toll in the country quickly approached that of Italy.

Mexico's health ministry reported a record 4,442 additional cases of the novel coronavirus in the country on Thursday, and 816 more deaths, bringing the total to 105,680 cases and 12,545 deaths.

China reported five new COVID-19 cases and three new asymptomatic infections for June 4, the health commission said on Friday.

Widely used drugs to control high blood pressure may help protect against severe COVID-19, a new study found, allaying concerns that they could make the illness caused by the coronavirus worse.

An influential medical journal article that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients was retracted on Thursday, adding to the controversy around a drug championed by U.S. President Donald Trump.