Health News

Polish Health Minister Lukasz Szumowski denied on Monday any wrongdoing as he reacted to accusations of inadequate supervision over procurement of equipment to help combat the coronavirus pandemic.

Africa has so far been spared the worst impact of the coronavirus, but the World Health Organization is worried the continent could face a "silent epidemic" if its leaders do not prioritize testing for it, a WHO envoy said on Monday.

AngloGold Ashanti on Monday said that a total of 196 people have tested positive for coronavirus at its Mponeng mine, where it suspended operations on Sunday after reporting 164 COVID-19 positive workers.

Mink with the coronavirus have infected two people in the Netherlands in what are probably the first such cases of transmission during the epidemic, government and health authorities said on Monday.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 92 on Monday, against 50 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases dropped to just 300 from 531 on Sunday.

Mozambique has confirmed its first COVID-19 death, the health ministry on Monday said.

A researcher leading Thailand's push to manufacture a coronavirus vaccine says its aim is to make it cost-effective and accessible to Southeast Asia, and play a part in preventing a supply shortage globally.

President Vladimir Putin made a rare lockdown appearance in the Kremlin on Monday after officials said improvements in the coronavirus situation may allow Russia to re-open some tourist resorts soon and relax restrictions in many regions.

Syria reported 20 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, the largest single-day increase to date, the health ministry said.

A hospital in southwest England has temporarily stopped admitting new patients, including to its emergency department, because of a high number of coronavirus cases, it said on Monday.

The Dutch agriculture ministry on Monday said it had found what it believes to be a second case of a human becoming infected with the new coronavirus after coming in contact with a mink that had the virus.

Malaysia reported 172 new coronavirus cases on Monday, most of them foreigners held at immigration depots, and taking the total number of infections in the country to 7,417.

Indonesia reported 479 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, taking the total in the Southeast Asian nation to 22,750, Health Ministry official Achmad Yurianto said.

The number of people diagnosed with the coronavirus at a Dutch pork processing plant near the German border has jumped to 147 since it was closed last week and workers asked to go into quarantine.

Bayer said on Monday it had made progress seeking a settlement over claims its glyphosate-based Roundup weedkiller causes cancer, after Bloomberg reported the company reached a verbal agreement on about 50,000 to 85,000 cases.

The Philippines' health ministry on Monday reported five additional novel coronavirus deaths and 284 more infections, the largest daily increase of cases in two weeks.

Cases of the coronavirus in Russia climbed to 353,427 on Monday, having risen by 8,946 in the past 24 hours, the country's coronavirus crisis response centre said.

Singapore's health ministry on Monday confirmed 344 more coronavirus cases, taking its tally of infections to 31,960.

Switzerland's Bachem has begun round-the-clock production of Propofol, a drug needed to sedate ventilated patients whose plight during the pandemic -- prone, unconscious, hospitalised -- has become emblematic of COVID-19's hit to healthcare systems.

A French consortium announced on Monday the launch of the production phase for a saliva-based screening test to detect the COVID-19 coronavirus.