Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Australia's CSL says to help fund, make vaccine candidate if it proves successful

Australia's biggest biotech firm CSL Ltd said it would help fund the development of a University of Queensland COVID-19 vaccine candidate and if it was successful, could make up to one hundred million doses towards the end of next year. Early pre-clinical results for the vaccine candidate have shown it produced high levels of antibodies that can neutralise the virus, it said. Brazil's official coronavirus death toll passes Italy

Brazil's total COVID-19 death toll blew past that of Italy on Thursday, as the Health Ministry reported 1,437 deaths in the last 24 hours and 30,925 additional coronavirus cases. The Latin American nation has now reported 34,021 deaths from the coronavirus, trailing only the United States and the United Kingdom. Does drug touted by Trump work on COVID-19? After data debacle, we still don't know

Scientists are resuming COVID-19 trials of the now world-famous drug hydroxychloroquine, as confusion continues to reign about the anti-malarial hailed by U.S. President Donald Trump as a potential "game-changer" in fighting the pandemic. The renewed research push follows widespread criticism of the quality of data in a study that on Thursday was retracted. The article, originally published in influential medical journal The Lancet, had found high risks associated with the treatment. Singapore plans a coronavirus contact tracing device for all to wear

Singapore plans to soon launch a wearable device for novel coronavirus contact tracing that, if successful, it will distribute to all of its 5.7 million residents, the government said on Friday. The city-state has already developed the first-of-its-kind smartphone app to identify and alert people who have interacted with novel coronavirus carriers, but the bluetooth technology has been beset with glitches and the app is not widely used. Hitachi, Toshiba, Miraca to set up factory for coronavirus antigen tests

Japanese industrial conglomerates Hitachi Ltd and Toshiba Corp will join with Miraca Holdings to increase production of antigen-based coronavirus tests, aiding in the country's effort to screen more people for the new virus. The alliance will double production of Miraca subsidiary Fujirebio's testing kits, which received government approval in May, to 400,000 a week, the three companies said in a joint statement on Friday. Novavax gets U.S. defense funding for its COVID-19 vaccine

Novavax Inc said on Thursday the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) will give the late-stage biotech company up to $60 million to fund the manufacturing of its experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S.-based company said the deal includes the delivery of 10 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine - NVX-CoV2373 - to the DoD this year. Coronavirus deaths surge in Brazil, Mexico as regional leaders look to reopen

The number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil blew past Italy's toll on Thursday, while Mexico reported a record number of new cases, as regional leaders in Latin America push to end quarantine measures and kick their economies back into gear. Latin America as a whole has become a new focus of the coronavirus pandemic, with health officials urging governments there not to open their economies too fast and to avoid public crowds. Protesters should 'highly consider' getting COVID-19 tests, U.S. official says

Protesters particularly in cities that have struggled to control the novel coronavirus should "highly consider" getting tested for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, a top U.S. health official said on Thursday. "Those individuals that have partaken in these peaceful protests or have been out protesting, and particularly if they're in metropolitan areas that really haven't controlled the outbreak...we really want those individuals to highly consider being evaluated and get tested," Robert Redfield, director for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told a U.S. House of Representatives committee. 'This is not New York': Mexico president defends coronavirus response

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador defended his government's handling of the coronavirus on Thursday after official data showed new deaths for a 24-hour period surging to an all-time high. The health ministry reported 1,092 new deaths on Wednesday, more than double the previous daily record, pushing Mexico's daily death toll past the United States for the first time since the outbreak started. Officials attributed the jump to improved documentation. U.S. doctors group sues FDA for limiting access to drug touted by Trump for COVID-19

A group of conservative U.S. doctors has sued the Food and Drug Administration for limiting use of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19, arguing that the therapy should be made widely available to fight the pandemic. The lawsuit represents the latest front in a highly politicized U.S. debate over access to hydroxychloroquine. The drug has been championed by President Donald Trump as a potential "game-changer" against the coronavirus, but its value has yet to be established. A clinical trial released on Wednesday found it to be ineffective in preventing infection.