Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Russia suspends use of ventilator type sent to U.S. after fatal fires

Russia on Wednesday suspended the use of some Russian-made medical ventilators after two fatal hospital fires reported to involve the machines, a setback in its fight against the novel coronavirus. The ventilators' safety was called into question a day earlier after a fire at Saint George's Hospital in St Petersburg in which five people died. That followed another fire at a hospital in Moscow which killed one person on Saturday. UK researchers try to crack genetic riddle of COVID-19

British researchers will study the genes of thousands of ill COVID-19 patients to try to crack one of the most puzzling riddles of the novel coronavirus: why does it kill some people but give others not even a mild headache? Researchers from across the United Kingdom will sequence the genetic code of people who fell critically ill with COVID-19 and compare their genomes with those who were mildly ill or not ill at all. UK PM Johnson says 275 health and social care workers have died from COVID-19

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that the deaths of 144 health care workers and 131 social care workers had been reported as involving COVID-19. The United Kingdom's total COVID-19 death toll now exceeds 40,000, by far the worst yet reported in Europe. Hong Kong reports first locally transmitted coronavirus cases in weeks

Hong Kong reported its first two coronavirus cases in three weeks not linked to anyone who travelled overseas, with authorities scrambling to trace the origin of the infections. The Asian financial hub has been one of the most successful cities in the world at containing the pandemic, with most cases imported and quarantined immediately, and the discovery of new cases raises worries of renewed local transmission. China's Wuhan kicks off mass testing campaign for new coronavirus

Authorities in the Chinese city where the novel coronavirus emerged launched an ambitious campaign on Wednesday to test all of its 11 million residents, after a cluster of new cases raised fears of a second wave of infections. At least two of the city's main districts have delivered notices of the campaign door-to-door and sent out online questionnaires through community workers seeking information about tests people have had, and if they belong to what are deemed high-risk groups, residents said. Locked down shoppers turn to vegetables, shun ready meals

Shoppers cut spending on ready-made meals and bought more fruit and vegetables, turning to healthier eating during coronavirus lockdowns, preliminary results of a research project showed. People forced to stay home also tried new recipes and threw away less food, the survey of nearly 11,000 shoppers in 11 countries found. With Castro-era biotech, Cuba seeks to compete in coronavirus treatment race

Communist-run Cuba, laboring under a six-decade U.S. embargo, is betting a biotech sector begun by late revolutionary leader Fidel Castro can give the Caribbean island an edge in a global race to find effective treatments for the new coronavirus. Cuba is especially touting an interferon it produces, a decades old antiviral agent that boosts immune system. Remote Lesotho becomes last country in region to record COVID-19 case

Lesotho recorded its first case of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the health ministry said, becoming the last country in southern and East Africa to be afflicted by the virus. The ministry said it had conducted 81 tests for COVID-19 from travellers from South Africa and Saudi Arabia, of which one was positive. Slowly but steadily, China strives to make widespread virus testing the new normal

Beijing resident Wang Yukun was happy to comply in April when the construction firm he works for told him he'd need to take a test for the novel coronavirus before he could come back to work, even though he was at low risk of having the disease. "My company arranged it and covered the test fee. The process was less time-consuming than I imagined," he said, recalling how he got his negative result the next day. "I think everyone should be tested as a matter of personal health." What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Salvaging the summer