Health

Kenya is rolling out voluntary public testing for the novel coronavirus in its biggest slum, where some residents say being declared virus-free boosts their chances of getting a job.

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Kenya's government is facing growing criticism over quarantine centres it set up to curb the spread of the coronavirus, with witnesses saying some are squalid and expose residents to the risk of catching COVID-19.

The French government on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to administer hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to patients suffering severe forms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

New diagnoses of one of the deadliest cancers fell by one-third in March and April as U.S. physicians and patients halted appointments and screenings during the COVID-19 outbreak.

Canadian drug discovery technology company AbCellera, which analyzes and identifies antibodies for pharmaceutical companies working on a coronavirus treatment and other medicines, said on Wednesday it had raised $105 million in funds.

Malaysian health authorities on Wednesday reported 15 new coronavirus cases, raising the cumulative total to 7,619 cases.

South Korea reported the highest daily number of new coronavirus cases in 49 days on Wednesday, as one of the country's largest e-commerce companies battled an outbreak linked to a now-shuttered logistics facility.

The Philippines' health ministry on Wednesday reported 18 new coronavirus deaths and 380 additional infections, the highest single-day increase in cases in more than seven weeks.

Falling numbers of active coronavirus cases in Australia and New Zealand are paving the way for the easing of travel restrictions between the two countries, health officials said on Wednesday, even as Australia recorded its youngest coronavirus death.

Russia said on Wednesday 161 people with the coronavirus had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the nationwide death toll to 3,968.

Two children who are the first suspected cases in South Korea of a rare, life-threatening syndrome linked with the new coronavirus, are recovering following treatment, health authorities said on Wednesday.

U.S. pharmacy chains are preparing a big push for flu vaccinations when the season kicks off in October, hoping to curb tens of thousands of serious cases that could coincide with a second wave of coronavirus infections.

Swiss drugmakers Roche and Novartis underscored how their portfolios are increasingly clashing on the commercial battlefield, announcing on Wednesday new data on drugs aimed at capturing market share from each other.

Switzerland will decide on Wednesday on further relaxations of restrictions brought in to stem the spread of the new coronavirus, including how to reopen nightclubs and football stadiums, the Neue Zuercher Zeitung paper reported.

A French consortium said on Wednesday that it was stepping up its previously announced plans for a saliva-based screening test to detect COVID-19, by joining up with medical laboratory and diagnostics group INOVIE.

Novartis said on Wednesday that an older leukaemia drug it is re-purposing for multiple sclerosis halted disease activity in many patients during the first two years of injections as the Swiss drugmaker takes aim at Roche's lucrative Ocrevus infusion.

Paola Berardi, 70, and her husband Mauro have taken care of their two grandchildren every weekday for the past decade while their daughter went to work in a chemical company. Every summer, they decamped with the twins to a seaside resort on the northern Italian coast.

Sanofi will raise over $11 billion from the sale of 21.6 million shares in its U.S. partner Regeneron , the French drugmaker said on Wednesday, adding it would use the proceeds for innovation and general growth.

Thailand on Wednesday reported nine new coronavirus infections, bringing its total to 3,054 confirmed cases. There were no new deaths reported.