Health News Roundup: NY COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations lowest in more than one week; U.S. CDC reports 632,548 COVID-19 cases and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

New York coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations lowest in more than one week

The number of people hospitalized for the novel coronavirus and related deaths fell to their lowest levels in more than a week, evidence that the hardest-hit state was controlling its spread, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday. Cuomo also told a daily briefing that he would extend an order closing businesses and schools by two weeks until at least May 15 in coordination with other states in the region.

U.S. CDC reports 632,548 coronavirus cases, 27,012 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Thursday reported 632,548 cases of coronavirus, an increase of 27,158 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2430 to 27,012. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on April 15 compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2IVY1JT)

U.S. officials run into dead ends in rush to find masks amid pandemic

The office of U.S. congressman Adam Kinzinger reached out to the White House last month with an urgent request: a business in his district in Illinois had located 13 million highly sought-after N95 respirator masks in Germany and wanted to know if officials were interested. The tip - confirmed by the Republican lawmaker's office, the company, and a U.S. Department of Homeland Security official - came as the coronavirus spread across the United States and around the world, sparking a global race to find critical medical protective equipment.

France's coronavirus death toll nears 18,000, but some good omens

France's registered death toll from coronavirus infections rose towards 18,000 on Thursday, but some data suggested the spread of the disease has been contained after a one-month-old national lockdown, officials said. During a press conference Jerome Salomon, head of the public health authority, said the number of people in hospital had declined for a second day running, and that the total number in intensive care units had fallen for the eighth day in a row.

Exclusive: Bayer's chloroquine donation to U.S. raises concern about FDA standards in pandemic

On March 21, two days after President Donald Trump first touted chloroquine drugs as a "gamechanger" in the fight against COVID-19, administration officials privately described what they felt was a "win" in the president's efforts to build an emergency stockpile of the drugs: a hefty donation of pills from Bayer AG. In an exchange of enthusiastic emails among federal health officials reviewed by Reuters, Keagan Lenihan, chief of staff of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), cautioned that "3-4 days" of testing would be needed.

How coronavirus hitched a ride through China

As residents of China's Wuhan began leaving for the first time last week, a Reuters analysis of official statements, data, and residents' accounts reveals how the coronavirus took hold and spread to more than 25 areas of the country before a Jan. 23 lockdown of the city. Click https://graphics.reuters.com/HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/SPREAD/xegpbwexvqz/index.html to see an interactive graphic that tracks the spread of the coronavirus across China.

In a French nursing home, universal testing to beat the coronavirus

In a nursing home near Colmar in eastern France, the region hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, laboratory staff clad in full protective gear conducted blood tests as health authorities battle to slow infections among the elderly. In France and other countries like Spain and the United State, the coronavirus has spread like wildfire through care homes, sending the number of fatalities spiraling higher.

Coronavirus prompts Canada to roll out safe drugs for street users

Canada's Pacific province of British Columbia was already battling an opioid epidemic when the new coronavirus hit, compounding the threat to drug users, many of whom are homeless and particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. In March, the Canadian government urged provinces to lower barriers to prescription medications - allowing doctors to provide prescriptions for controlled substances by phone and pharmacists to deliver them - to better help citizens to practice physical distancing and self-isolation.

Explainer: Who's WHO? The World Health Organization under scrutiny

The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the spotlight as it champions the global fight against the new coronavirus but faces a funding freeze from U.S. President Donald Trump's government.

Here are main features of the WHO and its work:

Sanofi teams up with U.S. firm Luminostics on developing COVID-19 testing app

French healthcare company Sanofi and U.S. start-up technology company Luminostics said they were joining up to work on developing a smartphone-based self-testing solution to see if someone has the COVID-19 coronavirus. Luminostics would contribute its proprietary technology for consumer-diagnostics for COVID-19 testing while Sanofi would bring its clinical research testing experience and capabilities, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.