Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. What U.S. doctors wish they had known before the coronavirus outbreak

"What I did not recognize was the severity of illness that would be seen in patients who are older and the rapidity with which this illness would spread through elderly populations." As signs indicate the curve of new cases may be starting to flatten, doctors in the United States shared with Reuters what they wish they had known before the coronavirus outbreak began. Two New York cats become first U.S. pets to test positive for COVID-19

Two cats in New York have become the first pets in the United States to test positive for the new coronavirus but there is no evidence pets can spread the virus to humans, according to U.S. health authorities. The cats, from separate areas of New York state, had mild respiratory illness and are expected to make a full recovery. It is believed that they contracted the virus from people in their households or neighborhoods, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 'I do feel afraid': Indian workers disinfect coronavirus hotspots

One recent morning in his two-room New Delhi home, sanitation worker Dev Dutt Sharma drank tea before putting on an orange jacket and bidding goodbye to his two sons, wife, and elderly mother. He rode his motorbike to government offices in South Delhi, where he suited up in protective gear and strapped a container full of disinfectant on his back. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 2,352 to 148,046: RKI

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases increased by 2,352 to 148,046, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Thursday, marking a third consecutive day of new infections accelerating. The reported death toll rose by 215 to 5,094, the tally showed. Coronavirus circulated in U.S. weeks earlier than thought, mistaken for flu, health official says

The novel coronavirus circulated in January in California, weeks earlier than thought, and early deaths were likely mistaken for the flu, a county health official said on Wednesday. A 57-year-old woman had died of COVID-19 on Feb. 6, far earlier than any other reported cases in the United States, said Sara Cody, the health officer in Santa Clara County, California. Special Report: Former Labradoodle breeder tapped to lead U.S. pandemic task force

On January 21, the day the first U.S. case of coronavirus was reported, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services appeared on Fox News to report the latest on the disease as it ravaged China. Alex Azar, a 52-year-old lawyer and former drug industry executive, assured Americans the U.S. government was prepared. “We developed a diagnostic test at the CDC, so we can confirm if somebody has this,” Azar said. “We will be spreading that diagnostic around the country so that we are able to do rapid testing on site.” U.S. coronavirus deaths top 47,000 after near-record increase on previous day: Reuters tally

U.S. coronavirus deaths topped 47,000 on Wednesday after rising by a near-record single-day number the previous day, according to a Reuters tally. A University of Washington model https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america, often cited by the White House, projected a total of nearly 66,000 U.S. coronavirus deaths by Aug. 4, an upward revision from its most recent previous estimate of 60,000 deaths. At current rates, U.S. deaths could reach 50,000 later this week. Three negatives and a positive: problems with coronavirus tests in China

Trader He Ximing in the Chinese city of Wuhan says he has no idea how or where he caught the coronavirus or why repeated nucleic acid tests showed he didn't have it. He was not a coronavirus patient, doctors told him, even though he had been having difficulty breathing with what he described as smothering chest congestion from early February. U.S. official says he was ousted for urging caution on Trump-touted coronavirus drug

The ousted director of a key U.S. agency charged with developing drugs to fight the coronavirus pandemic said on Wednesday he was dismissed because he called for careful vetting of a treatment frequently touted by President Donald Trump. Rick Bright said in a statement that he was replaced as director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or BARDA, and reassigned to a new role because he resisted efforts to push hydroxychloroquine and the related chloroquine as cures for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus. UK to test prevalence of COVID-19 in general population

Britain's government plans to test a sample of 20,000 English households for COVID-19 in the coming weeks to try to establish how far the disease has spread across the country. Health minister Matt Hancock - who has faced criticism over limited testing facilities for some health and social care workers - said on Thursday the research would help the government understand the trajectory of the disease better.