Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. North Carolina pug becomes first U.S. dog diagnosed with coronavirus

A pug living in a North Carolina home with three people who have tested positive for coronavirus became the first U.S. dog diagnosed with the COVID-19 respiratory illness, the American Humane Society said on Tuesday. The pooch apparently contracted the virus from the mother, father or son in the household who all have confirmed cases, a Humane Society spokeswoman said in a written statement. U.S. coronavirus death toll exceeds Americans killed in Vietnam War as cases top 1 million

The U.S. death toll from the novel coronavirus on Tuesday exceeded the 58,220 American lives lost during the Vietnam War as cases topped 1 million, according to a Reuters tally. U.S. cases have doubled in 18 days and make up one-third of all infections in the world, 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. CDC reports 981,246 coronavirus cases, 55,258 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday reported 981,246 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 23,371 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 1,336 to 55,258. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on April 27, compared with its count a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2IVY1JT) Mainland China reports 22 new coronavirus cases vs 6 a day earlier

Mainland China reported 22 new coronavirus cases for April 28, up from 6 reported a day earlier, putting its total number of COVID-19 infections to date at 82,858. The National Health Commission said in a statement on Wednesday that the number of imported cases involving travellers from overseas rose to 21 on Tuesday from 3 a day earlier. New asymptomatic cases, involving patients infected with the virus but not showing symptoms, fell to 26 from 40 the previous day. Australia to ramp up coronavirus testing with millions of new kits

Australia has secured 10 million COVID-19 test kits, Health Minister Greg Hunt said on Wednesday, as Canberra begins widespread testing that it hopes will sustain a decline in new coronavirus cases and allow social restrictions to be lifted. Australia - home to 25.7 million people - has confirmed about 6,700 cases of the novel coronavirus and just 88 deaths, way below figures reported in the United States and other hotspots, a result the government attributes to social distancing restrictions and testing. 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. Three U.S. children with COVID-19 have rare inflammatory syndrome

Three U.S. children infected with the coronavirus are being treated for a rare inflammatory syndrome that appears similar to one that has raised concerns by doctors in Britain, Italy and Spain, a specialist treating the patients told Reuters. All three - who range in age from 6 months to 8 years - have undergone treatment at Columbia University Medical Center in New York, and all had fever and inflammation of the heart and the gut. Germany reports 1,304 more coronavirus cases, 202 more deaths

Germany on Wednesday reported 1,304 more cases of the novel coronavirus while the number of deaths rose by 202 compared to the previous day, data from the Robert Koch Institute for infectious diseases showed. Europe's most populous country now has a total of 157,641 confirmed cases and 6,115 deaths, according to the tally.