Health News Roundup: Easter weekend in coronavirus-hit U.S.; U.S. coronavirus deaths top 18,000 and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Empty churches, food drive mark start of Easter weekend in coronavirus-hit U.S.

As American Christians began Easter weekend under threat of the coronavirus, political leaders and health experts on Friday cautioned the faithful not to gather in churches or relax social distancing practices. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert and other health officials pointed to declining rates of coronavirus hospitalizations and need for intensive care - particularly in hardest-hit New York - as signs that social distancing measures are paying off.

U.S. coronavirus deaths top 18,000: Reuters tally

U.S. deaths due to the coronavirus topped 18,100 on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, although there are signs that Americans staying home was helping to curb new infections. U.S. officials warned Americans to expect alarming numbers of coronavirus deaths this week, even as there was evidence that the number of new infections was flattening in New York state, the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Global coronavirus death toll hits 100,000, cases over 1.6 million

The number of deaths linked to the novel coronavirus reached 100,000 on Friday, as the tally of cases passed 1.6 million, according to a Reuters tally. The first death came in the central Chinese city of Wuhan on Jan. 9. It took 83 days for the first 50,000 deaths to be recorded and just eight more for the toll to climb to 100,000.

Man who contracted Ebola in Congo has died: regional health authorities

A man who contracted Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo has died, regional health authorities said in a statement on Friday. His was the first confirmed case in over 50 days, ending hopes that the country's 20-month outbreak might be over.

Trump says he thinks U.S. will lose fewer than 100,000 lives to coronavirus

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he thinks the United States will lose fewer than the initially projected 100,000 lives to COVID-19. Trump suggested that the United States is nearing its peak infection rate and said the nationwide number of new coronavirus cases is flattening, with the situations in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Detroit, Michigan, stabilizing.

New U.S. projections show summer spike if coronavirus restrictions lifted: NYT

New U.S. government figures show novel coronavirus infections will spike during the summer if stay-at-home orders are lifted after 30 days as planned, the New York Times reported on Friday. If President Donald Trump lifts shelter-in-place orders after 30 days, the death toll is estimated to reach 200,000, the New York Times reported, citing new projections it obtained from the Departments of Homeland Security (DHS) and Health and Human Services.

Ebola patient dies in Congo, first case in 50 days

The first person to contract Ebola in Democratic Republic of Congo in more than 50 days has died, the government said on Friday, ending hopes that the second-worst outbreak of the disease in history might be over. The Central African country planned to declare an end to the epidemic on Sunday, which would have allowed its overstretched health service to concentrate on containing the coronavirus, which has infected 215 and killed 20 there.

Outbid and left hanging, U.S. states scramble for ventilators

On the final Thursday in March, the Arkansas team in charge of procuring ventilators thought they had scored a coup: a vendor had agreed to sell them 500 of the breathing machines critical to keeping COVID-19 patients alive at $19,000 each. The next day they were told the deal had vanished because a buyer representing New York was offering to purchase 10,000 units, pay cash upfront and double the price, a deal the vendor could not turn down. Reuters could not independently verify that New York bought the ventilators.

New York 'cautiously optimistic' with first daily drop in ICU COVID-19 patients

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday that the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care units across the state dropped in the last day, offering a glimmer of hope that the surge in critical care hospitalizations might be leveling off. Cuomo said there were 17 fewer patients in the state's intensive care units on Thursday than a day prior. This was the first time that group of patients has decreased in a day since the outbreak took hold and a sign that social distancing measures are successfully reducing the virus' spread.

AstraZeneca's top-selling cancer drug sees early unblinding in key trial

AstraZeneca Plc said the third phase trial of its top-selling cancer drug Tagrisso, aimed at showing the drug's benefit in lung cancer treatment, will be unblinded early after a recommendation from an independent data monitoring committee. José Baselga, executive vice president, Oncology R&D, said the company was thrilled by the recommendation to unblind the trial much earlier than expected "and are incredibly excited with these unprecedented results in patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated non-small cell lung cancer."