Health News Roundup: Compugen sees 'encouraging signals' from early-stage cancer trial; Regeneron, Sanofi to treat only 'critical' COVID-19 patients with arthritis drug and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Tokyo reports fewest new coronavirus cases in 4 weeks, calls for vigilance

Metropolitan Tokyo confirmed 39 more cases of coronavirus infection on Monday, Governor Yuriko Koike said, the fewest since March 30 and the second consecutive day of new cases below triple digits. But Koike stressed at a video conference that the situation offered no grounds for optimism, saying that the number was usually low on Mondays as fewer test samples are brought in. "We can't let our guard down," she said.

Compugen sees 'encouraging signals' from early-stage cancer trial

Israeli cancer immunotherapy firm Compugen said on Monday it had positive initial results from an ongoing early-stage study of its COM701 therapy in patients with advanced solid tumours who have exhausted all standard treatments. COM701 was well-tolerated with no dose-limiting toxicities when administered alone and in combination with Bristol-Myers Squibb's cancer drug Opdivo (nivolumab), Compugen said.

Netherlands reports 400 new coronavirus cases, 43 deaths - health authorities

The Netherlands' number of confirmed coronavirus cases has risen by 400 to 38,245 health authorities said on Monday, with 43 new deaths. The country's death toll stands at 4,518, the Netherlands' Institute for Public Health (RIVM) said in its daily update.

Belgian COVID-19 hospital entries at lowest since lockdown start

Belgian hospitals admitted the lowest number of COVID-19 patients since the start of the lockdown almost seven weeks ago, figures showed on Monday, a week before the country starts to ease restrictions. In an encouraging sign, the number of hospital admissions, a key number to monitor the disease's evolution, fell to 127 on Sunday, the lowest level since March 18. Daily admissions peaked at over 600 at the end of March and have hovered at around 200 for the past week.

Latest on the spread of the coronavirus around the world

More than 2.97 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 205,948 have died, according to a Reuters tally, as of 0200 GMT on Monday.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS Thirty workers on Equatorial Guinea offshore oil platform test positive for coronavirus - sources

Thirty workers at an offshore oil platform in Equatorial Guinea have tested positive for the new coronavirus, two sources close to the ministry told Reuters. The workers on the Serpentina floating production storage and offloading platform have since been evacuated back onshore and are in quarantine, while operator Exxon Mobil and government officials are working to disinfect the platform.

Indian medical body asks states to stop using COVID-19 test kits from two Chinese firms

India's federal medical research agency on Monday asked state government to stop using coronavirus testing equipment brought from China because of conflicting results. More than half a million kits for testing for antibodies to coronavirus were ordered from China this month as a way to ramp up India's screening. But the Indian Council of Medical Research said several states had complained about the quality of the equipment from two firms and these need to be sent back to China.

Regeneron, Sanofi to treat only 'critical' COVID-19 patients with arthritis drug

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc and Sanofi SA said on Monday they would test their arthritis drug, Kevzara, in critically ill COVID-19 patients after the drug showed no benefit for patients with a less severe form of the disease. The companies said the decision to discontinue testing for severe cases was based on the recommendation of an independent monitoring committee that reviewed early data from the trial.

China to keep coronavirus tests focused, stops short of wider testing

China will focus testing for COVID-19 on high-risk groups such as people from infected areas or with symptoms, the head of a top state research institute said on Monday, suggesting that authorities are not about to rush into large-scale testing. The government said recently that it intends to carry out more widespread testing to quickly identify and isolate carriers, following spikes in cases linked to people arriving from abroad and new local transmissions.