Health

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a surprise announcement, said on Monday he is taking hydroxychloroquine as a preventive medicine against the coronavirus despite medical warnings about the use of the malaria drug.

The World Health Organization's head said on Tuesday he would keep leading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding and quit the body.

There are tentative signs that children may not spread the novel coronavirus as much as adults, two top epidemiologists said on Tuesday, though they cautioned that the bad news was that human immunity may not last that long.

Deaths from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy climbed by 162 on Tuesday, against 99 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose sharply to 813 from 451 on Monday.

The novel coronavirus is spreading so fast among the indigenous people in the furthest parts of Brazil's Amazon rainforest that doctors are now evacuating critical COVID-19 patients by plane to the only intensive care units in the vast region.

The United States said on Tuesday it would start delivering 200 medical ventilators this week to Russia, which has the world's second highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases.

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the World Health Organization had to improve how it treated the United States and other countries or Washington would pull out.

The region of New York that includes the state capital of Albany has been cleared to reopen on Wednesday after clearing a final hurdle related to contact tracing for the novel coronavirus, Governor Andrew Cuomo told a daily briefing.

After accusing the World Health Organization of pro-China bias last month and suspending contributions, U.S. President Donald Trump went further this week, threatening to halt funding altogether if the body does not commit to reforms within 30 days.

The United Kingdom's death toll from confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to 35,341 on Tuesday, an increase of 545 on the day, environment minister George Eustice said.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) warned on Tuesday that new coronavirus is spreading rapidly in the tri-border area of the Amazon between Brazil, Colombia and Peru and threatens to infect remote indigenous communities in the rainforest.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Tuesday it will study whether changes to the healthcare delivery system implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic have led to more pregnancy-related complications in the United States.

The United Kingdom's COVID-19 death toll has reached nearly 43,000, underlining the country's status as the worst-hit in Europe and raising more questions about Prime Minister Boris Johnson's handling of the crisis.

Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it plans to roll out a version of its cloud-based software that will be modified to suit the needs of healthcare organizations.

Spain's daily coronavirus death toll rose on Tuesday to 83 from 59 in the previous 24-hour period, the health ministry said.

U.S. President Donald Trump's administration awarded a contract worth up to $812 million for a new U.S. company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries.

The World Health Organization will continue to lead the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic which "threatens to tear at the fabric of international cooperation", its chief said on Tuesday.

Unlisted Covis Pharma B.V. started a late-stage U.S. randomized trial of its asthma drug Alvesco in non-hospitalized patients with symptomatic COVID-19, hoping the inhaled drug treats symptoms and limits viral replication.

The World Health Organization will continue to lead the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic which "threatens to tear at the fabric of international cooperation", its chief said on Tuesday.

The Czech Republic reported on Tuesday its biggest daily rise in new coronavirus cases in four weeks, at a time when it is relaxing most of its restrictions on business and movement.