Health News

The malaria drug promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump as a treatment for COVID-19 was shown to be ineffective in preventing infection in people exposed to the coronavirus, according to a widely anticipated clinical trial released on Wednesday.

A study by the Netherlands' National Institute for Health (RIVM) published on Wednesday concluded that children under the age of 12 play little role in transmitting the new coronavirus.

The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

U.S. President Donald Trump had no side effects from a two-week course of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug that can cause heart problems, after using it as a preventive measure against the coronavirus, his White House physician said on Wednesday.

The Dutch government on Wednesday ordered mink culled at nine farms where animals have been infected with the coronavirus, fearing they could form a reservoir of disease infecting humans after the country's current outbreak has passed.

The Spanish government on Wednesday secured parliament's backing for a final extension to the state of emergency imposed to tackle the coronavirus epidemic and which will now last until June 21.

France's coronavirus death toll rose by 81 on Wednesday, or 0.3%, to reach 29,021, the fifth-highest death toll in the world, and the number of confirmed cases rose again after they went down Tuesday due to an adjustment in reporting.

The World Health Organization will resume its trial of hydroxychloroquine for potential use against the coronavirus, its chief said on Wednesday, after those running the study briefly stopped giving it to new patients over health concerns.

Brazil's health regulator Anvisa has approved human clinical trials for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University and supported by AstraZeneca Plc, it said on Wednesday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday reported 1,827,425 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 24,955 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,045 to 106,202.

Mexico's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic may reach 30,000, a senior health official said in a newspaper interview published on Wednesday, while suggesting fatalities could be even higher if social distancing measures were relaxed too fast.

Emergency department visits fell 42% across the United States during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic compared to the same period last year, according to a study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Gilead Sciences Inc's potential COVID-19 treatment, remdesivir, could bring in more than $7 billion in annual sales by 2022, spurred by governments stockpiling the drug to guard against future outbreaks, SVB Leerink said on Wednesday.

The GAVI vaccines alliance is to launch an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) for future COVID-19 vaccines which it says will help secure access to the new shots for poorer countries.

Sanofi said on Wednesday it would review available information and run consultations before deciding whether to enroll patients again for its COVID-19-related hydroxychloroquine trials.

The results of almost all tests for the coronavirus should be available within 24 hours by the end of this month, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 71 on Wednesday, against 55 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases was roughly stable at 321 versus 318 on Tuesday.

Brazil this month will start testing an experimental vaccine against the novel coronavirus being developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca Plc, Brazil's health surveillance agency Anvisa and the Federal University of Sao Paulo (Unifesp) said.

The leader of Britain's COVID-19 test and trace programme said she hoped data on the numbers of people tested and contacts traced within 24 hours would be available from next week once it had been validated.

The Dutch government intends to cull the mink at farms where animals have been infected with the coronavirus, broadcaster RTL reported on Wednesday, citing sources in The Hague.