Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Spain split between concern and relief as coronavirus lockdown eased

The construction sector across Spain and other industries in Catalonia and the Basque Country went back to work on Tuesday, after the government eased one of the world's toughest coronavirus lockdowns as the pace of new infections slowed. However, with the overnight death toll edging up further beyond 500, some frontline workers have joined the head of the Catalan regional government in questioning if the curbs were being lifted too soon. Spain, Austria ease lockdowns but WHO warns coronavirus 'has not peaked'

Spain and Austria allowed partial returns to work on Tuesday but Britain, France and India extended coronavirus lockdowns to try to rein in the most serious pandemic in a century which the World Health Organization said had "certainly" not peaked. Nearly 2 million people globally have been infected and more than 119,200 have died, according to a Reuters tally of official figures. The epicentre has moved from China, where the virus first emerged in December, to the United States which now has the highest death toll at 23,568. UK does not face health versus economics choice over coronavirus: Sunak

British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the government was not facing a choice between slowing the spread of the coronavirus or protecting the economy. "It's clear we must defeat this virus as quickly as possible," Sunak told BBC television. "That is not a choice between health and economics. That defies common sense." U.S. appeals court blocks Texas curbs on medication abortion

A U.S. appeals court on Monday blocked Texas from enforcing curbs on medication-induced abortions as part of the Republican-governed state's restrictions aimed at postponing medical procedures not deemed urgent during the coronavirus pandemic. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed a federal judge's decision blocking the state from applying restrictions to abortions induced through medication to go into effect. GSK, Sanofi strike deal to develop COVID-19 vaccine

GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Sanofi SA said on Tuesday they would develop a vaccine to fight the fast-spreading coronavirus. The drugmakers said they expect to start clinical trials for the vaccine in the second half of this year. If successful, the vaccine would be available in the second half of 2021. 'Mixed picture' in Europe, COVID-19 vaccine at least 12 months off: WHO

The number of new cases of COVID-19 is easing in some parts of Europe, including Italy and Spain, but outbreaks are still growing in Britain and Turkey, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday. "The overall world outbreak, 90 percent of cases are coming from Europe and the United States of America. So we are certainly not seeing the peak yet," WHO spokeswoman Dr. Margaret Harris told a briefing in Geneva. South Korea set to double supply of coronavirus tests to U.S.

South Korea's SolGent has secured an order to supply a U.S. government agency with an additional 7,500 kits which can each perform 100 coronavirus tests, the CEO of the biotech firm told Reuters. That will double the number of tests U.S. authorities can perform using kits sourced from South Korea to 1.5 million. Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

Nearly 2 million people globally have been infected and more than 119,200 have died, according to a Reuters tally of official figures. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS Exclusive: Nurses at Mexico hospital hit by coronavirus say they were told to avoid masks

Nurses at a public hospital hit by Mexico's worst coronavirus outbreak were told by their managers not to wear protective masks at the start of the epidemic to avoid sowing panic among patients, nurses and other medical workers said. Two doctors and a hospital administrator have died and at least 51 staff members have been infected since the new coronavirus was detected at the IMSS General Hospital in Monclova in the northern state of Coahuila in late March, the state health department said. China tightens Russia border checks, approves coronavirus vaccine trials

China has approved early-stage human tests of two experimental vaccines to combat the new coronavirus as the country where the virus was first detected battles to contain imported cases, especially from Russia. Russia has become China's largest source of imported cases, with a total of 409 infections originating in its northern neighbour. Chinese there should stay put and not return home, the state-owned Global Times said on Tuesday.