Health News Roundup: Pfizer, BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine candidates get FDA's 'fast track' status; Coronavirus-related syndrome surfaces in older adults; stillbirths cause worry and more

COVID-19 inflammatory syndrome now seen in adults California shuts down businesses, schools as coronavirus outbreak grows California's governor on Monday clamped new restrictions on businesses as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared, and the state's two largest school districts, in Los Angeles and San Diego, said children would be made to stay home in August.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Pfizer, BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine candidates get FDA's 'fast track' status

Pfizer Inc and partner BioNTech SE said on Monday two of their experimental coronavirus vaccines received 'fast track' designation from the U.S. health agency, speeding up the regulatory review process. The U.S.-listed shares of the German firm climbed about 10%, while Pfizer's stock rose about 2% before the bell.

Coronavirus-related syndrome surfaces in older adults; stillbirths cause worry

The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

COVID-19 inflammatory syndrome now seen in adults California shuts down businesses, schools as coronavirus outbreak grows

California's governor on Monday clamped new restrictions on businesses as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations soared, and the state's two largest school districts, in Los Angeles and San Diego, said children would be made to stay home in August. Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, ordered bars closed and restaurants, movie theaters, zoos, and museums across the nation's most populous state to cease indoor operations. Gyms, churches, and hair salons must close in the 30 hardest-hit counties.

Australia tightens restrictions amid fresh COVID-19 outbreaks

Australian states on Tuesday tightened restrictions on movement as authorities struggle to contain a fresh outbreak of COVID-19 in the country's southeast that is starting to spill into other areas. With growing fears of a second coronavirus wave nationally, two states extended border restrictions and Australia's most populous state-imposed limits on the number of people allowed in large pubs.

WHO warns that coronavirus crisis may get 'worse and worse and worse'

The new coronavirus pandemic raging around the globe will worsen if countries fail to adhere to strict healthcare precautions, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday. "Let me be blunt, too many countries are headed in the wrong direction, the virus remains public enemy number one," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing from the U.N. agency's headquarters in Geneva.

Japan traces new coronavirus outbreak linked to Tokyo theatre

Tokyo health officials appealed on Tuesday for more than 800 theatergoers to get tested for the novel coronavirus after a production starring Japanese boy-band members was found to be the source of at least 20 cases. As the number of virus infections continues to rise in Japan's capital city, the Tokyo government said it was focussing on a 190-seat theatre in the Shinjuku entertainment district, where infections have also been traced to cabaret clubs.

WHO sounds alarm as coronavirus cases rise by one million in five days

The number of coronavirus infections around the world hit 13 million on Monday, according to a Reuters tally, climbing by a million in just five days. The pandemic has now killed more than half a million people in six-and-a-half months, and World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said there would be no return to the "old normal" for the foreseeable future, especially if preventive measures were neglected.

U.S. COVID-19 vaccine program to start manufacturing by late summer, says U.S. official

Drugmakers partnered with the U.S. government are on track to begin actively manufacturing a vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of the summer, a senior administration official said on Monday. "If you say exactly when will literally the vaccine materials be in production and manufacturing, it is probably four to six weeks away, but we will be actively manufacturing by the end of summer," the official, who declined to be identified by name, said.

Lab that tested U.S. execution drug will no longer accept lethal injection samples

A laboratory that was revealed last week to have been testing the purity of a lethal-injection drug for the U.S. Department of Justice has said it will no longer test the drug if it is intended for executions. DYNALABS, in St. Louis, Missouri, announced the new policy after Reuters published an investigation on Friday that named some of the companies involved in a secret supply chain to make and test a drug ahead of the first federal executions in 17 years.

Hong Kong to impose most severe social distancing restrictions

Hong Kong will impose strict new social distancing measures from midnight Tuesday, the most stringent in the Asian financial hub since the coronavirus broke out, as authorities warn the risk of a large-scale outbreak is extremely high. The measures dictate that face masks will be mandatory for people using public transport and restaurants will no longer provide dine-in services and only offer takeaway after 6 pm.