Category: Health

LONDON (Reuters) – A cheap and widely used steroid called dexamethasone has become the first drug shown to be able to save the lives of COVID-19 patients in what scientists said is a “major breakthrough” in the coronavirus pandemic. Trial results announced on Tuesday showed dexamethasone, which is used to reduce inflammation in other diseases…

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico went into the coronavirus outbreak insisting it would beat the pandemic without mass testing, but with deaths surging as it prepares to exit lockdown, the strategy looks increasingly untenable. Mexico’s coronavirus czar, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell, has doggedly eschewed widespread testing for new cases in favor of a lighter…

(Reuters) – For a second week in a row, half a dozen U.S. states face a surge in new coronavirus cases and rising hospitalizations, including an outbreak linked to a church in rural Oregon. Arizona, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas all reported record increases in new cases on Tuesday after recording all-time highs last week. Nevada…

(Reuters) – Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence-based tracking system to enforce social distancing at its offices and warehouses to help reduce any risk of contracting the new coronavirus among its workers. The unveiling comes as the world’s largest online retailer faces intensifying scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers and unions over whether it…

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany appealed to the public on Tuesday to download a new smartphone app to help break the chain of coronavirus infections, one of several such apps that European governments hope will revive travel and tourism safely. The Corona-Warn-App, now available for Apple and Android devices, uses Bluetooth short-range radio to measure close…

PARIS (Reuters) – The number of people who died from coronavirus infection in France rose by 111 to 29,547 on Tuesday with the health ministry including weekly data for the death toll in nursing homes. The number of people who died in hospitals increased by 38 to 19,090 on Tuesday, compared to 29 on Monday…

(Reuters) – A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that struck down a Trump administration rule that required pharmaceutical companies to include the wholesale prices of their drugs in television advertisements. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in favor of Merck & Co Inc, Eli Lilly and…

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The unlisted biotech firm CureVac will become the second company to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in Germany, two people familiar with the plans told Reuters on Tuesday. The clinical trial, to be announced on Wednesday, is the second to be approved by Germany’s vaccines regulator, the Paul Ehrlich…

(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 2,104,346 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 18,577 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 496 to 116,140. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused…

DOUALA (Reuters) – A Catholic archbishop in Cameroon says he has developed two plant-based remedies for COVID-19 which are given free to those who test positive for the respiratory disease. Archbishop Samuel Kleda of Douala diocese, who has practiced herbal medicine for several years, declined to give the composition of the two products, called “Elixir…