Health News Roundup: Latin America's health workers face hostility; NY pediatrician is dealing with coronavirus outbreak and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

'It's Covid! Stay away!' Latin America's health workers face rising hostility

Shoved to the ground, splashed with bleach or glared at on public transportation, health workers face a growing tide of hostility across Latin America for potentially spreading COVID-19. For Sandra Aleman, a nurse in the city of San Luis Potosi in central Mexico, the attack began when a group of children sprayed juice and soda on her white uniform, shouting, "It's Covid! Stay away from us!" '

Don't go to the ER': how a New York pediatrician is dealing with the coronavirus outbreak

When a 3-year-old patient of New York pediatrician Dr. Greg Gulbransen dislocated her arm, he told her parents not to take her to the emergency care center, fearing that could put the family at risk of contracting COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Instead, he said, he met them on their front lawn, where he popped the girl's joint back in.

WHO regrets Trump funding halt as global coronavirus cases top 2 million

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday he regrets U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to pull funding for the agency, but that now is the time for the world unite in its fight against the new coronavirus. Trump's move prompted condemnation from world leaders as global coronavirus infections passed the 2 million mark.

A day fighting COVID-19: U.S. hospital staff share hardest moments on shift

The shifts are long and the scenes are heartbreaking inside a Maryland hospital where nurses and doctors have been treating coronavirus patients for weeks, unable to let family inside to visit loved ones on their death beds. One of the hardest moments of a recent work day for registered nurse Julia Trainor was intubating a patient and then calling the patient's husband so he could talk to his wife. He was not allowed in the hospital.

U.S. coronavirus death toll tops 30,000, New Yorkers told to wear masks

The U.S. coronavirus death toll - the highest in the world - surged past 30,000 on Wednesday after doubling in a week, while the hardest-hit state of New York ordered residents to wear masks in certain settings to combat the pandemic. The sobering milestone was reached at a time when states spared the worst of the pandemic were mulling a partial lifting of restrictions on business and social life by May 1, a target date promoted by President Donald Trump.

Supplies for coronavirus field hospital held up at U.S.-Mexico border

Red tape and rules on exporting medical gear have delayed work on a field hospital for migrants in an asylum camp near Mexico's border with Texas, undercutting efforts to prepare for the coronavirus pandemic, according to organizers of the project. Mexican authorities approved construction of the 20-bed field hospital on April 2. But since then, a trailer laden with supplies for the project has been parked in Brownsville, Texas, less than a block from the U.S.-Mexico border.

French coronavirus toll jumps by record 1,438 deaths

The number of people who died from coronavirus infection in France jumped by 1,438 or 9.1% to 17,167 in the biggest single-day increase as a number of nursing homes reported cumulative tolls following the three-day Easter weekend, the health ministry said on Wednesday. The number of people who died in hospitals rose by 514 or 5% to 10,643, less than the 541 reported on Tuesday, but the cumulative death toll in nursing homes rose by 924 or 17% to 6,524, compared with 221 on Tuesday.

As Brazil's COVID-19 testing lags, available labs go unused

Despite Brazil's backlog of more than 90,000 specimens awaiting coronavirus testing and a rising death toll, laboratories are idle due to a lack of materials, the agriculture ministry said. Brazil's agriculture ministry told Reuters in a written response to questions earlier this week that seven labs it had made available for coronavirus testing and which were cleared by the health regulator two weeks ago are still not being used for tests.

Coronavirus hospitalizations in New York down for second day: governor

Hospitalizations of people with the novel coronavirus fell for a second day in New York and the state would send ventilators to Michigan and Maryland, further signs some control is being gained on the outbreak, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday. Cuomo also disclosed an outline of his plan to reopen New York's shuttered economy, starting with the most essential businesses, and said he would order people to wear masks in public when a safe distance from others could not be maintained.

Mourning a 'supermom': U.S. health worker casualties mount in virus fight

"Home soon," Madhvi Aya texted from her hospital bed. "Love you." It was the last exchange she had with her only daughter, 18-year-old Minnoli. Three days later, Madhvi Aya died of COVID-19.