Health

A cheap steroid that can help save the lives of patients with severe COVID-19 should be reserved for serious cases in which it has been shown to provide benefits, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

The first wave of COVID-19 came slowly to San Joaquin County in the heart of California's breadbasket, but the much-feared second surge is roaring through, sickening as many people in the two weeks since Memorial Day as in March and April combined.

New coronavirus cases in Oklahoma increased by a record amount just days ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Tulsa, the biggest event in the country since pandemic restrictions were imposed in March.

The European Commission called on Wednesday for global leaders to cooperate to buy bulk quantities of potential COVID-19 vaccines, to avoid "harmful competition" in the race for a shot and ensure any future vaccine is available for poor countries.

Israel has signed an agreement with Moderna Inc for the future purchase of its potential COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

Italy's nursing homes, where the COVID-19 epidemic is believed to have killed thousands of people, did not have the equipment needed to protect staff or residents, a survey by the country's top health body showed on Wednesday.

The use of a new range of surveillance cameras to check adherence to rules in the wake of the novel coronavirus outbreak risks undermining the fabric of democracy, France's data privacy watchdog CNIL said on Wednesday.

Spain will trial a new smartphone app aimed at helping to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus on one of the Canary Islands, authorities said on Wednesday.

New York, once the U.S. epicenter of coronavirus infections, now has the country's lowest rate of virus spread as the state's death toll and number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continue to decline, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

New York, once the U.S. epicenter of coronavirus infections, now has the country's lowest rate of virus spread as the state's death toll and number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 continue to decline, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.

It is important to reserve use of the steroid dexamethasone for the treatment only of serious cases of COVID-19, for which it has been shown to have a benefit, the head of the World Health Organizations's emergencies program said on Wednesday.

Israeli researchers say they have invented a reusable face mask that can kill the coronavirus with heat by drawing power from a mobile phone charger.

Japanese researchers confirmed the presence of the coronavirus in wastewater plants, a finding that could serve as a signal for future outbreaks.

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.

New coronavirus infections hit record highs in six U.S. states on Tuesday, marking a rising tide of cases for a second consecutive week as most states moved forward with reopening their economies.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group Inc-backed Ortho Clinical Diagnostics said on Wednesday its COVID-19 antibody testing program received a grant of $678,000 from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

Unlisted German biotech firm CureVac will become the second company after rival BioNTech to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in the country, eyeing a potential approval in mid-2021.

Unlisted biotech firm CureVac on Wednesday become the second company after rival BioNTech to launch human trials of an experimental coronavirus vaccine in Germany, eyeing potential regulatory approval in mid-2021.

The speaker of Kazakhstan's lower house of parliament has self-isolated after contracting the new coronavirus, authorities said on Wednesday as they raised the alarm about a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases in the capital Nur-Sultan.

Scores of domestic flights in and out of Beijing were cancelled on Wednesday as officials ramped up attempts to contain a coronavirus outbreak in the Chinese capital over the past week that has sparked fears of renewed wider contagion.