Health

Eager to bolster the healthcare system during the coronavirus pandemic, the U.S. government last month sped $30 billion in stimulus payments to most healthcare providers that billed Medicare last year.

China reported one new coronavirus case for May 1, down from 12 a day earlier, data from the country’s health authority showed on Saturday.

Mexico's health ministry reported on Friday 1,515 new known coronavirus cases and 113 deaths, bringing the country's total to 20,739 cases and 1,972 deaths.

Gilead Science Inc's antiviral drug remdesivir was granted emergency use authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID-19 on Friday, clearing the way for broader use of the drug in more hospitals around the United States.

The Canadian province of Alberta on Friday launched the country's first phone app to trace contacts of people infected with the coronavirus, as the country slowly restarts its economy.

President Donald Trump on Friday seemingly increased his estimate of possible deaths in the United States from the coronavirus, telling a White House event he hopes for less than 100,000 fatalities, a higher upper limit than the 60,000 to 70,000 deaths he discussed on Monday.

(Reuters Health) - Sleep-wake patterns tracked by two popular consumer wearables - the Apple Watch and the Oura Ring - gave results comparable to those found with actigraphy and polysomnography in a small experiment.

(This April 30 story corrects 4th paragraph to show that CORE is managing and staffing some of the testing sites, not that it is partly funding the tests.)

Russia on Friday reported a record daily rise in the number of confirmed coronavirus cases, a day after Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced he had been diagnosed with the new virus and was temporarily stepping down to recover.

Countries must lift lockdowns gradually, while still being "on the look-out" for COVID-19 and ready to restore restrictions if the virus jumps back, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday.

Britain has hit its target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, health minister Matt Hancock said on Friday, stressing that the programme was crucial to helping ease a national lockdown.

Britain did not change its criteria for recording coronavirus tests to meet its goal to carry out 100,000 tests per day by the end of April, the adviser in charge of the operation said on Friday.

More than 3.29 million people have reportedly been infected by the novel coronavirus globally, and 232,806 have died, according to a Reuters tally as of 1400 GMT on Friday.

Thailand will end a ban on the sale of alcohol on Sunday when it lifts other restrictions following progress in containing the coronavirus outbreak, two officials said late on Friday.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) said on Friday it would boost its cooperation with the World Health Organization (WHO) as it seeks to fight the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, in particular in vulnerable African countries.

The largest U.S. airlines are moving rapidly to mandate facial coverings for all passengers, with Southwest Airlines Co and Alaska Airlines on Friday joining other major airlines in imposing the measure to address the spread of the coronavirus and convince reluctant passengers to resume flying.

Gilead Sciences , which manufactures remdesivir, is focused on making the experimental coronavirus drug accessible and affordable to as many people as possible once it is approved, Chief Executive Officer Daniel O'Day said on Friday.

The COVID-19 death toll in English hospitals has risen by 352 from the day before to 20,483, including 18 people who did not have any known underlying health conditions, health officials said on Friday.

A manufacturer of a possible COVID-19 vaccine being developed by British scientists said on Friday it may know by the end of May if it can make a million doses a month with a view to building stocks for commercial supply when the vaccine is approved.

Britain might have hit its daily target of carrying out 100,000 COVID-19 tests a day, or will come close, putting in place the beginnings of a network to test, track and trace people through the pandemic, housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Friday.