Health

While numerous clinical trials are currently fighting for a vaccine to the coronavirus, one new study suggests promising treatments that can be used in the meantime to battle the spread. The study, titled ‘The Current and Future State of Vaccines, Antivirals and Gene Therapies Against Emerging Coronaviruses’ and published by …

More than 200,000 people worldwide have now died with the coronavirus, figures from Johns Hopkins University show. There are more than 2.8 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to the tally. It comes after the number of fatalities in the US passed 50,000, as Americans endure the world’s deadliest outbreak. …

Governments should not issue so-called “immunity passports” or “risk-free certificates” as a way of easing lockdowns, the World Health Organization (WHO) says. It said there was “no evidence” that people who had developed antibodies after recovering from the virus were protected against a second infection. Such a move could actually …

The global coronavirus death toll approached 200,000 on Saturday as the United Nations launched an international push for a vaccine to defeat the pandemic. Governments around the world are struggling to limit the economic devastation unleashed by the virus, which has infected nearly 2.8 million people and left half of …

The last patient in Wuhan with severe COVID-19 has been cured, a health official has declared. The now-global disease was first detected in the Chinese city. The patient, who was the last person in Wuhan and the whole of Hubei Province to experience difficulty overcoming the virus, was released from …

The coronavirus can linger in patients’ eyes for several weeks and could act as a way of spreading the COVID-19 disease, according to a new study from Italy. Scientists at Italy’s National Institute for Infectious Diseases hospital in Rome studied the symptoms of an unnamed 65-year-old woman who developed the …

African nations that lack ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients will receive some from the Jack Ma Foundation, an African Union official said on Thursday, as Nigeria stressed Africa’s dependence on a properly-funded World Health Organization (WHO)to help it fight the pandemic. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than …

In a reversal of prevailing COVID-19 wisdom, a French study appears to show smokers are less at risk from the virus, affirming the results of an earlier Chinese study. The data aren’t conclusive – but they’re certainly surprising. Nicotine may protect smokers against the coronavirus, according to a paper published …

Public Health England has recommended the use of vitamin D supplements during lockdown because people are spending more time indoors and have less exposure to sunlight as a result. Vitamin D is created by the body in response to direct sunlight on the skin, and it is thought that people …

Lebanon has become the first Arab country to legalize cannabis farming for medical and industrial purposes – a move that could generate lucrative exports and foreign currency as the country struggles to cope with a financial crisis. Although growing the plant was previously illegal, cannabis has long been farmed openly …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that there were “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and Central and South America, while also warning that opening up global travel needed to be managed carefully. “Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics …

The coronavirus pandemic and the travel restrictions that came with it have severely reduced the supply of illegal drugs entering France, sending prices skyrocketing and users turning to cheaper alternatives. The go-to land routes for drug traffickers crossing into France from the Netherlands and Spain have largely been closed off, …

In a bustling meat market on a tourist island in Indonesia on 7 April, a pile of dead bats is laid out for sale on a table next to cuts of fresh pork while a butcher angrily shoos away a customer trying to take pictures of the scene on his …

U.S. health regulators on Tuesday OK’d the first coronavirus test that allows people to collect their own sample at home, a new approach that could help expand testing options in most states. The test from LabCorp will initially only be available to health care workers and first responders under a …

The World Health Organization warned on Tuesday that any lifting of lockdowns to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus must be gradual, and if restrictions were to be relaxed too soon, there would be a resurgence of infections. Lockdown measures have proved effective, and people must be ready for …

BELGIAN scientists have discovered that antibodies found within llama blood could help to neutralise the coronavirus. Researchers from the Vlaams Institute for Biotechnology in Ghent have reported molecules in camelids blood may serve as useful “therapeutics” during the outbreak. These antibodies have proved effective against viruses such as Middle East …

Italian sports car maker Ferrari has announced that it will produce respirator valves and fittings for protective face masks as part of its efforts to support the national response to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement today. “Ferrari has started to produce respirator valves and fittings for protective masks …

The World Health Organization has warned there is no evidence to suggest the presence of antibodies in the blood can determine whether someone has immunity to the coronavirus. Dr. Mike Ryan, the WHO’s executive director for health emergencies, said Friday there was no indication so far that a large proportion …

COVID-19 patients who are getting an experimental drug called remdesivir have been recovering quickly, with most going home in days, STAT News reported Thursday after it obtained a video of a conversation about the trial. The patients taking part in a clinical trial of the drug have all had severe …

US President Donald Trump has been heavily criticized for halting funding for the World Health Organization (WHO) amid the global coronavirus pandemic. Philanthropist Bill Gates, a major funder of the WHO, said it was “as dangerous as it sounds”. President Trump said on Tuesday that the body had “failed in …