Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Europe sees two deaths, multiple cases of COVID-linked syndrome in children

A new life-threatening inflammatory syndrome associated with COVID-19 has affected 230 children in Europe and killed two so far this year, a regional health body said on Friday, as medics worldwide were told to be on alert. The Swedish-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a risk report that two children had succumbed to the condition: one in Britain and one in France. New COVID-19 cases in New York coming from people leaving home, Cuomo says

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Saturday the state's new confirmed COVID-19 cases are predominantly coming from people who left their homes to shop, exercise or socialize, rather than from essential workers. "That person got infected and went to the hospital or that person got infected and went home and infected the other people at home," Cuomo said during his daily news conference on the coronavirus outbreak. France says coronavirus death toll rises to 27,625

French health authorities reported 96 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, as the country eases from a two month lockdown. In a statement, the health ministry said the figure had fallen slightly from 104 fatalities on Friday. This brings France's total to 27,625, the fourth-highest tally in the world, after the United States, Britain, and Italy, and just ahead of Spain. Trump says he is considering restoring some funding to WHO, no decision made

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday his administration was considering numerous proposals about the World Health Organization, including one in which Washington would pay about 10% of its former level. In a posting on Twitter, Trump underscored that no final decision had been made and that U.S. funding for the global health agency remained frozen. FDA suspends Gates-backed at-home COVID-19 testing program

An at-home coronavirus testing project in Seattle backed in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said on Saturday it was working with U.S. regulators to resume the program after being suspended by the Food and Drug Administration. The Seattle Coronavirus Assessment Network (SCAN), which aims to monitor the spread of the novel coronavirus in the region, had said it was suspending its testing of patient samples collected at home after the Food and Drug Administration tightened guidelines to require emergency approval first. UK's confirmed COVID-19 death toll rises to 34,466, up 468

A total of 34,466 people who tested positive for the new coronavirus have died in the United Kingdom, a rise of 468 in a 24-hour period, the health ministry said on Saturday. The figures are as of 5 p.m. (1600 GMT) on May 15. Including deaths due to suspected cases, Britain's toll is over 40,000. Italy's daily coronavirus death toll dips to lowest since March 9

The daily toll from the COVID-19 epidemic in Italy fell to 153 on Saturday, its lowest since March 9, against 242 the day before, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases increased to 875 from 789 on Friday. The total death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 31,763 the agency said, the third highest in the world after those of the United States and Britain. China's Wuhan conducted 113,609 COVID-19 tests on May 15: officials

The city of Wuhan, the original epicentre of the new coronavirus outbreak in China, conducted 113,609 nucleic acid tests on May 15, the local health authority said on Saturday. Wuhan has launched a city-wide testing campaign after confirming last weekend its first cluster of COVID-19 infections since its release from a virtual lockdown on April 8 to contain the spread of the pathogen. Spain plans last emergency decree extension as protests break out

Spain's government will seek to extend its coronavirus state of emergency one last time until late June, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Saturday as anti-government protests broke out around the hard-hit country. "The path that we are taking is the only one possible," Sanchez told a news conference, saying he would ask parliament for an extension of about a month until the end of June when most of the nation should be returning to normality. Crowds at Wuhan clinics fear coronavirus testing could rekindle disease

As Wuhan, the Chinese city where the COVID-19 pandemic began, revs up a massive testing campaign, some residents crowding the test centres expressed concern on Saturday that the very act of getting tested could expose them to the coronavirus. Safety has become a hot topic on social media groups among the 11 million residents of Wuhan, people told Reuters as they converged on open-air test sites at clinics and other facilities. Many said, though, that they support the voluntary campaign.