Health News Roundup: US. senators offer bill to prepare for the next pandemic; EU launches new COVID-19 fundraising and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. senators offer bill to prepare for the next pandemic

U.S. senators offered a bipartisan $3 billion plan on Thursday to prepare for the next global health crisis, putting a premium on fighting disease outbreaks and pandemics like COVID-19. In a departure from partisan divisions over the novel coronavirus, Senator Jim Risch, Republican chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, and Democratic committee members Chris Murphy and Ben Cardin introduced the bill, with high hopes that much of it would eventually become law.

EU launches new COVID-19 fundraising to address concerns over equal access

The European Commission launched a new global fundraising campaign on Thursday to finance the development and worldwide distribution of testing, vaccines and treatments against COVID-19, seeking to address concerns they may not be equally shared. The new initiative, named "Global Goal: Unite For Our Future", is meant to raise tens of billions of dollars with private and public donations.

AstraZeneca says it may consider exposing vaccine trial participants to virus

The chief executive of AstraZeneca, which is developing a leading coronavirus vaccine with Oxford University, said it is too early to deliberately expose trial participants to the pathogen, but it may become an option if ongoing tests hit a snag. The British drugmaker last week started phase 2 and 3 trials of the vaccine, looking to recruit around 10,000 adults and children in Britain.

Germany pauses anti-malaria drug study for COVID-19: Spiegel

A university in Germany has suspended a clinical study using the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, Spiegel Online reported on Thursday, after the World Health Organisation decided this week to pause a large trial over safety concerns. "We will now probably interrupt the study for two weeks," Peter Kremsner, Medical Director at the Tuebingen University Hospital told Spiegel, which reported the decision was made late on Thursday.

Egypt registers 1,127 new coronavirus cases, 29 deaths

Egypt registered 1,127 new coronavirus cases and 29 deaths, the health ministry said on Thursday, the highest daily increase. That brings the total number of confirmed cases to 20,793, of which 5,359 have recovered, the ministry said in a statement.

CVS, Nuro to test driverless prescription delivery in Houston area

CVS Health Corp and unmanned vehicle delivery Nuro in June will start testing a service that drops prescriptions and other essentials free of charge to some customers in the Houston area, the companies said on Thursday. CVS and other companies are experimenting with myriad ways to serve customers who may be reluctant or unable to visit stores due to the coronavirus pandemic, which has fueled demand for home delivery of everything from groceries and medicine to patio furniture and gardening supplies.

French coronavirus cases jump by 3,325 due to better tracking

The number of coronavirus infections in France jumped on the same day the government announced an easing of lockdown rules, but the increase reflected the inclusion of new data rather than a rise in daily infections, the Health Ministry said. The inclusion of data from a new tracking system boosted the number of confirmed coronavirus cases by 3,325 to 149,071, the biggest increase since a 4,183 increase on May 6, when data from a new laboratory were included.

Exclusive: GSK says science does not link pandemic H1N1 flu vaccine to sleep disorder

British drugmaker GSK said on Thursday that its previous flu pandemic vaccine, which used some of the same ingredients as COVID-19 vaccines currently under development, was not linked to a rise in cases of the sleep disorder narcolepsy. A spokesman for GSK said the "science has moved on" since concerns were raised about links between narcolepsy and its H1N1 vaccine, called Pandemrix, which was developed during the flu pandemic 10 years ago.

Valencia region moves to next stage of Spain's lockdown exit

Spain's Valencia region will progress to the next phase of a gradual exit from one of Europe's strictest lockdowns, Health Minister Salvador Illa said on Thursday, as the country's coronavirus death toll rose by just one for the second straight day to 27,119. Valencia, which is home to important tourism resorts in cities such as Benidorm and Alicante on the East coast, will move to phase 2 of a four-stage easing process, where gatherings of up to 15 people will be allowed and some previous restrictions on movement will be lifted.

France to open bars and beaches in second phase of easing lockdown

France will allow restaurants, bars, and cafes to reopen from June 2, though with more restrictions in Paris than elsewhere, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said on Thursday as he announced the next phase in easing the country's coronavirus lockdown. The government is also lifting a nationwide 100 km (60-mile) travel restriction and will reopen beaches and parks from next week as it seeks to resuscitate the euro zone's second biggest economy ahead of the summer tourism season.

(With inputs from agencies.)