Reuters Health News Summary

The western state of Maharashtra, home to the densely packed financial capital Mumbai, has the country's highest total, recording 6,364 fresh cases of the virus on Saturday and 198 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. WHO halts hydroxychloroquine, HIV drugs in COVID trials after failure to reduce death

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday that it was discontinuing its trials of the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 after they failed to reduce mortality. The setback came as the WHO also reported more than 200,000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in a single day. The United States accounted for 53,213 of the total 212,326 new cases recorded on Friday, the WHO said. UK confirmed COVID death toll rises to 44,198, up 67

The United Kingdom's death toll from confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus has risen by 67 to 44,198 in the last day, the government said on Saturday. WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases, up more than 212,000

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Saturday, with the total rising by 212,326 in 24 hours. The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil and India, according to a daily report https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/situation-reports. The previous WHO record for new cases was 189,077 on June 28. Deaths remained steady at about 5,000 a day. Tokyo seeks travel curbs as new infections tops 100 for third day, says NHK

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike on Saturday urged residents of the Japanese capital not to travel beyond its borders as new coronavirus infections topped 100 for a third day, public broadcaster NHK reported. Tokyo confirmed 131 new cases of infections of the coronavirus on Saturday, NHK said. China says G4 swine flu virus not new; does not infect humans easily

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Saturday that the so-called "G4" strain of swine flu virus is not new and does not infect or sicken humans and animals easily, rebuffing a study published earlier this week. That study, by a team of Chinese scientists and published by the U.S. journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), warned that a new swine flu virus, named G4, has become more infectious to humans and could become a potential "pandemic virus". Florida sees coronavirus cases spike to new daily record

Florida's confirmed coronavirus cases rose by a record 11,458 on Saturday, the state's health department said, the second time in three days that its caseload increased by more than 10,000. The new record came a day after seven other states also reported record rises in cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that has killed nearly 130,000 Americans. India coronavirus cases hit record high amid monsoon rains

India recorded its highest singe-day spike of coronavirus cases on Saturday, with over 22,000 new cases and 442 deaths, as infections rose in the western and southern parts of the country amid heavy monsoon rains. The western state of Maharashtra, home to the densely packed financial capital Mumbai, has the country's highest total, recording 6,364 fresh cases of the virus on Saturday and 198 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. U.S. CDC reports 2,785,023 coronavirus cases, 129,397 deaths

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 2,785,023 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 52,492 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 749 to 129,397. 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 July 3 compared with its previous report a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/31sxbnj) Catalonia curbs movement of 200,000 people after new coronavirus outbreaks

Police at roadblocks warned motorists they were entering a lockdown zone on Saturday as Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia reimposed restrictions on more than 200,000 people following several new coronavirus outbreaks. Residents in Segria, which includes the city of Lleida, will not be able to leave the area from 12 noon (1000 GMT) on Saturday, but they will not have to stay at home as was the case during Spain's original lockdown. India's clinical research body defends timeline for coronavirus vaccine trials

India's leading clinical research agency said Saturday its decision to fast-track development of a potential coronavirus vaccine was in line with international standards, after health experts raised concerns about the schedule for clinical trials. The Indian Council of Medical Research issued a statement after a letter was leaked on Friday showing ICMR Director General Balram Bhargava as saying the agency "envisaged" launch of the vaccine for public health use by Aug. 15, with the aim to begin patient enrolment for human trials by July 7.