Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Gilead increases enrollment target for remdesivir trial in COVID-19 patients

Gilead Sciences Inc on Friday increased enrollment target by 3,600 for a trial testing its experimental drug, remdesivir, in severe COVID-19 patients, a day after a media report said the drug was showing promise. Shares of the company rose 8% after medical news website STAT detailed rapid recovery in fever and respiratory symptoms in COVID-19 patients at the University of Chicago Medicine hospital. Mexico registers 578 new cases of coronavirus, 60 new deaths

Mexican health officials reported on Friday 578 new cases of the novel coronavirus and 60 new deaths, bringing the country's total to 6,875 cases and 546 deaths. Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell said on Thursday the country might have nearly 56,000 people infected with the fast-spreading coronavirus. Thailand reports 33 new coronavirus cases, no new deaths

Thailand reports 33 new coronavirus infections, bringing the nation's total to 2,733 cases, a senior official said on Saturday. Eleven of the new cases were in Bangkok and had a history of going to public areas, said Taweesin Wisanuyothin, a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration. Australia sees 3 new coronavirus deaths as govt urges app installation

Australia's coronavirus-related death toll rose by three to a total of 68 on Saturday, health data showed, with the government stepping up its calls for people to sign up for a controversial movement-tracking mobile phone app. Australia and neighboring New Zealand have shown early success in potentially stopping Covid-19 after closing their early and imposing strict curbs on public movement. China reports 27 new coronavirus cases, death toll at 4,632 after data revisions

China's National Health Commission reported 27 new confirmed coronavirus cases on April 17, up from 26 the day earlier, according to data published on Saturday. Of that figure, 17 cases were imported via individuals arriving overseas, up from 15 the previous day. GM dispatches first batch of ventilators for COVID-19 patients

General Motors said on Friday it had started delivering the first batch of 54 ventilators to U.S. hospitals treating severely ill COVID-19 patients. GM said the Franciscan Health Olympia Fields hospital in Olympia Fields, Illinois, and Chicago's Weiss Memorial Hospitals will receive shipments of 10 ventilators each via package delivery company UPS Inc on Friday. Reasons for hope: the drugs, tests and tactics that may conquer coronavirus

With much of the world living in lockdown, the spread of the new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, that was first detected in China late last year is beginning to slow in some places. As of Friday, 2.18 million people had been infected and 147,000 killed by COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. While a safe, effective vaccine is still more than a year away, researchers are rushing to repurpose existing drugs and non-drug therapies as well as testing promising experimental drugs that were already in clinical trials. As coronavirus infections mount, Japan at last expands testing

Japan, alarmed by rising coronavirus deaths and the specter of the collapse of the medical system, is scrambling to expand testing with drive-through facilities and general practitioners helping to collect samples. For weeks Japan has limited its testing for the coronavirus, which emerged in neighboring China late last year, despite calls from many health experts who see testing as vital to detecting and isolating cases and slowing the spread. Many migrants on U.S. deportation flight had coronavirus, Guatemalan president says

Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei said on Friday a large number of migrants on a deportation flight to Guatemala from the United States this week were infected with the coronavirus, adding that U.S. authorities had confirmed a dozen cases. Giammattei said 12 randomly selected people on the deportation flight tested positive for coronavirus when examined by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Global coronavirus death toll hits 150,000: Reuters tally

The number of deaths worldwide linked to the novel coronavirus reached 150,000 on Friday, 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. It took another eight days to go from 100,000 to 150,000.