Health News Roundup: Singapore plans wearable virus-tracing device for all; After Pakistan's lockdown gamble, COVID-19 cases surge and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

After Pakistan's lockdown gamble, COVID-19 cases surge

Four weeks ago, with its most important festival coming up and millions of people facing starvation as economic activity dwindled, Pakistan lifted a two-month-long coronavirus lockdown. Prime Minister Imran Khan has said despite rising infections and deaths, the country would need to learn to "live with" the virus to avert pushing tens of millions living on daily wages into destitution.

'Truly sorry': Scientists pull panned Lancet study of Trump-touted drug

An influential study that found hydroxychloroquine increased the risk of death in COVID-19 patients has been withdrawn a week after it led to major trials being halted, adding to the confusion about a malaria drug championed by U.S. President Donald Trump. The Lancet medical journal pulled the study after three of its authors retracted it, citing concerns about the quality and veracity of data in it. The World Health Organization (WHO) will resume its hydroxychloroquine trials after pausing them in the wake of the study. Dozens of other trials have resumed or are in process.

China reports African swine fever outbreak in Yunnan province

China's has registered an outbreak of African swine fever on a small farm in the southwestern Yunnan province, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Friday. The outbreak, which occurred on a farm of 102 pigs in Yongsheng county near Lijiang city, is the first to be reported in the province since November last year.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

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

When coronavirus and protests collide Abbvie strikes partnership to develop COVID-19 antibody therapy

U.S. drugmaker AbbVie Inc said on Friday it would develop an antibody therapy to prevent and treat COVID-19 in partnership with three organizations including the Netherlands' Utrecht University. AbbVie joins other drugmakers in the race to develop a treatment for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus that has no approved treatment.

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.

Undiagnosed COVID-19 could mean English toll is higher than thought: ONS

An increase in the number of deaths in England and Wales in recent months that have not been linked to COVID-19 could indicate that undiagnosed cases are killing more people than previously thought, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday. The United Kingdom has the second highest COVID-19 death toll in the world after the United States, with over 50,000 people dying from confirmed or suspected cases of the disease, according to a Reuters tally of official data sources.

'It's not over': COVID-19 cases rise in some nations easing lockdowns: WHO

Some countries have seen "upticks" in COVID-19 cases as lockdowns ease, and populations must protect themselves from the coronavirus while authorities continue testing, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday. The epicentre of the pandemic is currently in countries of Central, South and North America, particularly the United States, WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.

Singapore plans wearable virus-tracing device for all

Singapore plans to give a wearable device that will identify people who had interacted with carriers of coronavirus to each of its 5.7 million residents, in what could become one of the most comprehensive contact-tracing efforts globally. Testing of the small devices, which can be worn on the end of a lanyard or carried in a handbag, follows limited take-up of an earlier smartphone-based system and has further fuelled privacy concerns about contact tracing technology.

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.