Health News Roundup: Australia's largest state reports first local coronavirus case in weeks; Brazil's COVID-19 death toll passes Britain, world's second highest and more

Brazil reported a total of 828,810 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 25,982 new infections in the last 24 hours, and another 909 fatalities, raising the death toll to 41,828, the Health Ministry said.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. officials reiterate COVID-19 safety advice, warn of more restrictions if cases spike

U.S. health officials on Friday urged Americans to continue adhering to social distancing and other COVID-19 safety measures following rising concerns among experts that the reopening of the country's economy could lead to a fresh wave of infections. Officials from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that states may need to reimpose strict restrictions if COVID-19 cases spike.

Australia's largest state reports first local coronavirus case in weeks

Australia's largest state of New South Wales on Saturday reported its first locally transmitted COVID-19 case since late May, a sign the threat from the pandemic is far from over as social distancing restrictions continue to be eased. The state recorded four new coronavirus cases overnight, taking the total number in Australia to nearly 7,300.

Fauci: Slight coronavirus spikes may get out of control amid reopening

The top U.S. infectious disease official, Dr. Anthony Fauci, on Friday cautioned that the "blips" of rising coronavirus hospitalizations being reported by some states could get out of control if robust contact tracing regimes are not put in place. As restrictions on economic activity are lifted, the United States was bound to see increased infections, Fauci told CNN.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 348 to 186,022: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 348 to 186,022, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 18 to 8,781 the tally showed.

Masks significantly reduce infection risk, likely preventing thousands of COVID-19 cases -study

Requiring the wearing of masks to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in areas at the epicenter of the global pandemic may have prevented tens of thousands of infections, a new study suggests. Mask-wearing is even more important for preventing the virus' spread and the sometimes deadly COVID-19 illness it causes than social distancing and stay-at-home orders, researchers said, in the study published in PNAS: The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA.

China reports 11 new confirmed, 7 asymptomatic COVID-19 cases for June 12

China reported 11 new COVID-19 cases and seven asymptomatic cases for June 12, the national health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission (NHC) said in a statement that five of the new confirmed patients were so-called imported cases involving travelers from overseas.

Beijing wholesale market temporarily shut after new coronavirus infections

Authorities in Beijing have temporarily shut a major wholesale agricultural market following a rise in locally transmitted novel coronavirus infections in China's capital city over the past two days. The closure of the Xinfadi wholesale market at 3 a.m. local time on Saturday (1900 GMT on Friday), came after two men working at a meat research center who had recently visited the market were reported on Friday as having been infected by the novel coronavirus. It was not immediately clear how the men had been infected.

Coronavirus hitting the Americas hardest says World Health Organization

The Americas are bearing the brunt of the global coronavirus pandemic at present, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, with North and South America currently having four of the 10 worst-hit countries in the world. The disease was "highly active" in Central and South America, the WHO's top emergency expert Mike Ryan said, highlighting problems in Brazil and Mexico.

Brazil's COVID-19 death toll passes Britain, world's second highest

Brazil's COVID-19 death toll overtook Britain's on Friday to become the second-highest in the world after the United States, according to numbers released by the Brazilian Health Ministry. Brazil reported a total of 828,810 confirmed cases of coronavirus, with 25,982 new infections in the last 24 hours, and another 909 fatalities, raising the death toll to 41,828, the Health Ministry said. Of the total cases of COVID-19, 365,063 have recovered, the ministry said.

U.S. health agency reverses Obamacare transgender protections

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a rule on Friday that would lift anti-discrimination protections under Obamacare for transgender people and women seeking abortions, drawing condemnation from Democratic lawmakers. The rule reverses some provisions of the Affordable Care Act passed during President Barack Obama's administration, also known as Obamacare, that extended civil rights protections in healthcare to cover areas including gender identity and the termination of a pregnancy.

(With inputs from agencies.)