Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. WHO cautions against untested COVID-19 traditional remedies

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday that medicinal plants such as Artemisia annua, touted as possible treatments for COVID-19, should be tested for efficacy and side effects. The WHO said it supported scientifically proven traditional medicine, adding that complementary and alternative medicine had many benefits. Global coronavirus deaths exceed quarter of a million: Reuters tally

Global coronavirus deaths rose past a quarter of a million on Monday after infections topped 3.5 million, a Reuters tally of official government data showed, even as several countries began easing lockdowns designed to contain the pandemic. North America and European countries accounted for most of the new deaths and cases reported in recent days, but numbers were rising from smaller bases in Latin America, Africa and Russia. New Zealand records no new coronavirus cases for a second day

New Zealand recorded no new coronavirus cases for a second day in a row on Tuesday, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the outcome of her discussions with Australia on a travel bubble between the two countries would be announced later in the day. Ardern joined Australia's coronavirus cabinet meeting on Tuesday as the neighbouring countries discuss reopening their borders to travel following their successes in containing the disease. WHO says Pompeo remarks on virus origin 'speculative', seeks data

The World Health Organization said on Monday that comments by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo citing "evidence" that the new coronavirus had emerged from a Chinese laboratory were "speculative", and called for a science-based inquiry. Pompeo said on Sunday there was "a significant amount of evidence" that the virus emerged from a lab in the Chinese city of Wuhan, but did not dispute U.S. intelligence agencies' conclusion that it was not man-made. Call centres expose fault line in Japan's pandemic fight

Almost a month after Tokyo declared a state of emergency, dozens of call centre employees for telecom KDDI Corp still commute into their crowded office, where the fear of coronavirus infection has taken a back seat to data security. Call centres have exposed one of the fault lines in Japan's fight against the pandemic, as it takes a less forceful approach than many countries. In the past few weeks, 17 infections were confirmed at a post office call centre in the northern island of Hokkaido and 11 at a Kyoto mail-order business. Israel isolates coronavirus antibody in 'significant breakthrough': minister

Israel has isolated a key coronavirus antibody at its main biological research laboratory, the Israeli defence minister said on Monday, calling the step a "significant breakthrough" toward a possible treatment for the COVID-19 pandemic. The "monoclonal neutralising antibody" developed at the Israel Institute for Biological Research (IIBR) "can neutralise it (the disease-causing coronavirus) inside carriers' bodies," Defence Minister Naftali Bennett said in a statement. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 685 to 163,860: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 685 to 163,860, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by 139 to 6,831, the tally showed. Researchers double U.S. COVID-19 death forecast, citing eased restrictions

A newly revised coronavirus mortality model predicts nearly 135,000 Americans will die from COVID-19 by early August, almost double previous projections, as social-distancing measures for quelling the pandemic are increasingly relaxed, researchers said on Monday. The ominous new forecast from the University of Washington's Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) reflect "rising mobility in most U.S. states" with an easing of business closures and stay-at-home orders expected in 31 states by May 11, the institute said. U.S. targets fraud in coronavirus antibody test market with tighter rules

The United States on Monday began requiring antibody tests for the new coronavirus to undergo a regulatory agency review, acknowledging that its earlier policy had opened the door to fraud. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration had previously required only that companies attest their product was valid and labeled as unapproved, attracting 170 companies to the antibody test market including unscrupulous vendors making false claims, Reuters reported last week.. Mexico registers 1,434 new coronavirus cases, 117 deaths

Mexico registered 1,434 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday and 117 new deaths, a health official said, bringing the total in the country to 24,905 confirmed cases and 2,271 deaths. However, health officials have previously said that the real number of cases is much higher.