Health

On Friday night, Brazil became the second country in the world to surpass 1 million cases of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The nation is on track to overshadow the U.S. for the most coronavirus deaths in the world by the end of July, according to …

A review into the 2m social distancing rule in England will conclude “within the coming days”, Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden has said. It comes amid warnings many businesses will not survive under the current guidance as the government prepares to ease more restrictions on 4 July. Pubs, restaurants and hotels …

The Iraqi Ministry of Health and environment announced today, Friday, that the Russian Covid-19 drug will be available in Iraq by the end of next week. The official Iraqi News agency quoted the minister of health, Hassan al-Tamimi, saying that, “the Russian drug is currently manufactured in Iraq and will …

A China-based pharmaceutical company claims its COVID-19 vaccine candidate is proving to be safe and effective on humans so far, citing early research. A senior member of the company said the vaccine could finish the last phase of human testing as early as this fall. “The vaccine shows [protection] on …

The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed today, Friday, that the second wave of Covid-19 is not inevitable; contrasting its previous warning of a possible second wave of the pandemic. “The situation today is not better than it was at the beginning of the year, while no vaccine or treatment were …

A genetic analysis of COVID-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence whether someone develops a severe disease. Scientists who compared the genes of thousands of patients in Europe found that those who had Type A blood were more likely to have severe disease while those with Type O were …

The World Health Organization is looking at interim data from its large multi-country trial of the combination of HIV drugs Lopinavir and Ritonavir to treat COVID-19 patients, the UN agency’s chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Thursday. Her comments come after the WHO on Wednesday stopped testing of the malaria …

Right now, we could all use some good news, and it came yesterday in the form of dexamethasone. This cheap steroid could significantly reduce deaths in critically ill Covid-19 patients by one-third for those on ventilators and by one-fifth for those on oxygen alone. The drug appears to stop the …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said it was moving to update its guidelines on treating people stricken with COVID-19 to reflect results of a clinical trial that showed a cheap, common steroid can help save critically ill patients. Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, used since the 1960s to …

The US Food and Drug Administration has revoked its emergency use authorization for the drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19. After reviewing the current research available on the drugs, the FDA determined that the drugs do not meet “the statutory criteria” for emergency use authorization as they …

Far more people around the world think China has responded well to the COVID-19 pandemic than those who think the United States has done a good job, a poll by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation showed on Monday. The survey of more than 120,000 people from 53 countries by the …

Covid-19 has killed more than 432,000 people worldwide since the outbreak started in China last year, according to tracking websites. Here are the developments for June 14: Beijing confirms eight new cases in first seven hours of June 14 Beijing city confirmed eight new cases in the first seven hours …

Researchers in Florida say they believe they have shown that the new coronavirus has mutated in a way that makes it more easily infect human cells. They say more research is needed to show whether the change has altered the course of the pandemic, but at least one researcher not …

More than 7.74 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 428,352 have died, according to a Reuters tally. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. Brazil on Friday …

The number of people in extreme poverty around the world could rise beyond 1 billion as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, new analysis has suggested. Figures from the World Bank suggest that 736 million people currently live in destitution, surviving on less than $1.90 a day (£1.53). But in …

As the world races to produce an effective Covid-19 vaccine, some experts are turning their attention to a polio vaccine as a way to provide temporary protection against coronavirus. There is plenty of evidence that existing inoculations such as polio vaccines protect children against a wide range of infections and …

A medicine that may treat and prevent Covid-19 is now being tested in patients in multiple sites around the United States, according to an announcement Thursday from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. It is the first trial of a Covid-19 antibody cocktail in the United States. If successful, Regeneron hopes it could …

The coronavirus pandemic is “accelerating” in Africa, spreading from capital cities where it arrived with travelers, but it does not appear that severe cases and deaths are being missed, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday. Ten countries are driving Africa’s epidemic, accounting for 75% of some 200,000 cases …

The US surpassed 2 million confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday night as new hotspots emerge and hospitalizations go up in some states. More than 112,000 people have died from Covid-19 nationwide, according to Johns Hopkins University. The spike in numbers highlights how complicated it is to stop the spread of the …

Nearly 49 million more people are likely to fall into extreme poverty this year due to the COVID-19 crisis and every percentage point drop in the global GDP would mean hundreds of thousands of additional children will have stunted growth, UN chief Antonio Guterres has warned, calling on countries to …