Health News Roundup: Research, players at risk of coronavirus spread to lungs; Ireland will not hit weekly testing goal and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

New research says players at risk of coronavirus spread to lungs

Research from Germany and Italy suggests that footballers and other athletes face a particular risk of the coronavirus infecting their lungs, raising major questions over attempts to restart professional soccer. The research, produced by Italian immunologists and lung specialists based at institutes in Berlin, Rome and Verona, suggests that due to strenuous exercise, elite athletes are more likely to inhale virus particles and direct them to the lower areas of the lung.

Ireland will not hit 100,000 weekly coronavirus testing goal until mid-May

Ireland has failed to reach its target to carry out 100,000 coronavirus tests per week and will not meet it until the week of May 18, three weeks later than planned, a senior health official said on Tuesday. Health officials have said the ability to quickly test and isolate anyone who catches the virus is a key component in the debate over whether to ease stay-home restrictions now in place until May 5.

India's Serum Institute to make millions of potential coronavirus vaccine doses

The Serum Institute of India said on Tuesday it plans this year to produce up to 60 million doses of a potential vaccine against the new coronavirus that is under clinical trial in Britain. Serum, the world's largest maker of vaccines by volume, is mass-producing the vaccine candidate developed by the University of Oxford, which started testing it on humans last week, and is a leader in the global race to develop an antidote to the novel coronavirus.

U.S. coronavirus cases top 1 million as projected death toll rises

U.S. cases of the novel coronavirus topped 1 million on Tuesday, having doubled in 18 days, and making up one-third of all infections in the world, according to a Reuters tally. More than 56,500 Americans have died of the highly contagious respiratory illness COVID-19 caused by the virus, an average of about 2,000 a day this month, according to the tally.

Special Report: Cyber-intel firms pitch governments on spy tools to trace coronavirus

When law enforcement agencies want to gather evidence locked inside an iPhone, they often turn to hacking software from the Israeli firm Cellebrite. By manually plugging the software into a suspect's phone, police can break in and determine where the person has gone and whom he or she has met. Now, as governments fight the spread of COVID-19, Cellebrite is pitching the same capability to help authorities learn who a coronavirus sufferer may have infected. When someone tests positive, authorities can siphon up the patient's location data and contacts, making it easy to "quarantine the right people," according to a Cellebrite email pitch to the Delhi police force this month.

UK on track for one of Europe's worst virus death tolls

Britain is on track to record one of the worst coronavirus death tolls in Europe after data published on Tuesday showed nationwide fatalities topped 24,000 nine days ago. A day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of success in dealing with the outbreak, the new figures showed the week ending April 17 was Britain's deadliest since comparable records began in 1993.

COVID-19 testing for anyone draws a crowd in hard-hit Detroit

Detroit residents waited for hours on Tuesday to get free COVID-19 tests at a new facility that for the first time offered testing to people who did not already have symptoms of the disease and a doctor's authorization for the test. "I don't want to take a chance," said Cheryl Albright, a 58-year-old Detroit woman with hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), conditions she knows put her at higher risk. Albright said she has family members who have tested positive for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.

U.S. coronavirus deaths projected at over 74,000 by August

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus outbreak could exceed 74,000 by August, according to the University of Washington's predictive model, often cited by White House officials and state public health authorities. Late on Monday, the university's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) model raised its projected U.S. death toll to 74,073 by Aug. 4, up from nearly 67,000 predicted a week ago, and 60,000 predicted two weeks ago.

New York coronavirus hospitalizations drop to month low, governor says

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Tuesday that new hospitalizations for the novel coronavirus dropped to a one-month low and laid out a plan to employ thousands of case investigators under criteria for reopening his state. Cuomo, who has traded barbs with U.S. President Donald Trump over who was to blame for the crisis, also criticized federal agencies, the intelligence community and the mainstream press for failing to "blow the bugle" early enough, while arguing the primary responsibility for the pandemic did not lie with states.

Sweden's sweet tooth turns sour as coronavirus stirs hygiene fears

While the coronavirus has not stopped Swedes from eating in restaurants, drinking in pubs, or playing organised sport, it has halted the country's love affair with pick & mix candy. Swedes chew through almost 33 pounds of candy per person each year - around 15 bags of sugar - more than any other nation, according to a 2018 study by the Swedish Board of Agriculture.