Reuters Health News Summary

French coronavirus deaths rise by 19 to 29,633 The number of deaths in France from COVID-19 has risen by 19 from Friday to stand at 29,633, the health ministry said on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Beijing tests food and parcel couriers as coronavirus checks widen

Officials in Beijing are carrying out tests to detect traces of coronavirus on all food and parcel delivery workers in an effort to rein in a new outbreak, state-backed media reported on Saturday. Officials in the Chinese capital have been expanding nucleic acid testing across the city of 20 million since a cluster of infections linked to a food wholesale market erupted just over a week ago. UK's Sunak sees 'enormous difference' after social distance review

British finance minister Rishi Sunak signalled that the government is poised to relax its two-metre social distancing rule for England which businesses have said in its current form would slow their recovery from the coronavirus lockdown. A review of the two-metre rule would be concluded next week, Sunak told BBC television on Saturday, adding: "Obviously that is something that will make an enormous difference, I think, to many businesses who are keen to see a change." Hong Kong records fifth coronavirus death

A 78-year-old woman has died in Hong Kong from coronavirus, taking the death toll from COVID-19 in the city to five, with 1,129 cases. Hong Kong has eased social distancing measures aimed at curbing the spread of coronavirus with the latest rules now banning gatherings of 50 people or more. Chile ups coronavirus death count to more than 7,000; second Codelco death reported

Chile on Saturday increased its estimate of cases and deaths caused by the coronavirus while a labor union at state-owned Codelco, the world's largest copper producer, confirmed that a second company employee had died in the pandemic. Amid an effort re-organize its much-criticized reporting of virus-related deaths, the government increased its estimated number of fatal cases to more than 7,000 from a previously-confirmed 4,265. U.S. halts test of Trump-touted hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients

The U.S. National Institutes of Health said on Saturday it has halted a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The study found that hydroxychloroquine, which President Donald Trump has frequently touted a possible treatment, did not provide any benefit to the patients, even though it did no harm, NIH said in a statement. Germany's coronavirus reproduction rate jumps to 1.79: RKI

The reproduction rate of the novel coronavirus in Germany has jumped to 1.79 after a raft of localised outbreaks, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for public health said on Saturday, far above the level needed to contain it over the longer term. The number, a sharp increase from 1.06 on Friday, is a setback for the European Union's most populous country, which has fared better in the pandemic than many European peers due mainly to early testing and social distancing measures. India reports record rise in coronavirus cases; Delhi cancels all medical staff leave

India reported a record jump in coronavirus infections on Saturday, a day after the government in the capital New Delhi ordered hospitals to cancel any leave and have workers return to duty immediately. India saw an increase of 14,516 COVID-19 cases, the health ministry said, taking the total to 395,047 with 12,948 deaths. U.S. CDC reports 2,215,618 coronavirus cases

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 2,215,618 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 32,218 from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 690 to 119,055. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on June 19 compared with its previous report released on Friday.(https://bit.ly/30XDNtF) Italy reports 49 coronavirus deaths on Saturday, 262 new cases

Italy reported 49 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, compared with 47 a day earlier, the Civil Protection Agency said, while the daily tally of new cases rose to 262 from 251 on Friday. The country's death toll since the outbreak came to light on Feb. 21 now stands at 34,610, the agency said, the world's fourth-highest after the United States, Brazil and Britain. French coronavirus deaths rise by 19 to 29,633

The number of deaths in France from COVID-19 has risen by 19 from Friday to stand at 29,633, the health ministry said on Saturday. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases rose by 641 to 160,093.