Health News Roundup: Northern Ireland drags feet on abortion a year after UK orders roll-out; Social taboos hinder Indonesia's fight against coronavirus and more

There were 2,531 new coronavirus infections reported in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to 212,501, along with 9,996 deaths in all, the ministry said on Wednesday.

Northern Ireland drags feet on abortion a year after UK orders roll-out

Almost a year after the British parliament voted to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland, one of the last regions in Western Europe with a ban, women there face gaps in provision due to renewed local political roadblocks. The region's socially conservative health minister Robin Swann has declined to order the health service to provide abortions, commission information campaigns, and also declined to introduce emergency telemedicine measures offered in the rest of the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Social taboos hinder Indonesia's fight against coronavirus

Indonesian authorities complained on Wednesday that hundreds of people had refused testing for the new coronavirus as social taboos emerge as another obstacle to stopping its spread in the world’s fourth-most populous nation. Indonesia has the highest number of reported infections in Southeast Asia, surpassing 49,000, while at least 2,573 people have died, according to official data, the highest COVID-19 death toll in East Asia outside China.

Fulcrum Therapeutics begins trial of muscle disorder drug for COVID-19 patients

Fulcrum Therapeutics Inc said on Wednesday it has started the late-stage trial of its experimental muscle disorder drug, losmapimod, in adults hospitalized with COVID-19. The company in-licensed losmapimod from GlaxoSmithKline Plc last year after the drug failed to prove more effective than placebo in a large clinical trial in 2015. 

Exclusive: Women, babies at risk as COVID-19 disrupts health services, World Bank warns

Millions of women and children in poor countries are at risk because the COVID-19 pandemic is disrupting health services they rely on, from neonatal and maternity care to immunisations and contraception, a World Bank global health expert has warned. Monique Vledder, head of secretariat at the bank's Global Financing Facility (GFF), told Reuters in an interview the agency was gravely worried about the numbers of children missing vaccinations, women giving birth without medical help and interrupted supplies of life-saving medicines like antibiotics.

Iran's coronavirus death toll continues to resurge, nears 10,000

Iran’s death toll from COVID-19 has risen to nearly 10,000 with 133 new fatalities in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said, extending a reversal from a steady fall in daily numbers as the country has relaxed its lockdown. There were 2,531 new coronavirus infections reported in the past 24 hours, raising the total number of cases to 212,501, along with 9,996 deaths in all, the ministry said on Wednesday.

All African countries now have coronavirus lab testing capacity - WHO chief

All African countries have now developed laboratory capacity to test for the coronavirus, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus also warned that the pandemic was accelerating.

BrainStorm to study stem cell treatment in Alzheimer's patients

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc said on Wednesday it will begin a clinical trial of its experimental stem cell treatment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. The U.S.-Israeli company is already conducting advanced trials of its treatment called NurOwn in patients with the neurodegenerative disease amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Washington state makes face masks mandatory as some states see new coronavirus surge

The governor of Washington state on Tuesday ordered residents to wear face masks in public as officials across the country sought new means to control the coronavirus pandemic while easing clamp-downs on residents and reopening the economy. The move by Washington Governor Jay Inslee came as Arizona, California, Mississippi and Nevada reported record numbers of new cases of COVID-19, the illness caused by the novel coronavirus. Texas set a record on Monday.

India's Hetero prices experimental COVID-19 drug remdesivir at $71 per 100 mg vial

India's Hetero Labs Ltd has priced its generic version of remdesivir, Gilead's experimental COVID-19 drug, at 5,400 rupees ($71) per 100-milligram vial, the drugmaker said on Wednesday, as it prepares to ship them to hospitals in the country. The privately held company said it would supply 20,000 vials of the drug. Fellow Indian drug firm Cipla Ltd had said on Tuesday that its own version of the antiviral drug remdesivir would be priced below 5,000 rupees.

AstraZeneca, Scotland's Symbiosis sign deal for COVID-19 vaccine supply

British drugmaker AstraZeneca has signed its tenth supply-and-manufacturing deal for its experimental COVID-19 vaccine with Symbiosis Pharmaceutical for use in clinical trials, the Scottish private firm said on Wednesday. "It is fantastic to see the continued success of Symbiosis in Scotland, and I applaud the vital work they are undertaking," Scotland's Trade Minister Ivan McKee said.

(With inputs from agencies.)