Health News Roundup: Brazil asked to take measures to protect indigenous peoples from COVID-19; Australia's Victoria state reports 374 new cases of coronavirus and more

California reports nearly 12,000 COVID cases, biggest increase since pandemic started California reported a record increase of more than 11,800 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, according to a Reuters tally of county data, as the Trump administration pushes for schools to reopen to help businesses return to normal.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

California reports nearly 12,000 COVID cases, biggest increase since pandemic started

California reported a record increase of more than 11,800 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, according to a Reuters tally of county data, as the Trump administration pushes for schools to reopen to help businesses return to normal. If California were a country, it would be rank fifth in the world for total cases at nearly 400,000, behind the United States, Brazil, India, and Russia.

Australia's Victoria state reports 374 new cases of coronavirus

Australia's second-most populous state of Victoria reported on Tuesday three deaths from the new coronavirus and logged 374 daily cases of infections compared with 275 cases a day earlier. A woman in her 100s, a woman in her 90s, and a woman in her 80s have all died from the virus, Premier Daniel Andrews said in a media briefing in Melbourne.

Brazil asked to take measures to protect indigenous peoples from COVID-19

A commission linked to the Organization of American States (OAS) on Monday asked Brazil's government to take steps to protect the indigenous Yanomami and Yekuana peoples from the spreading coronavirus pandemic. In a statement, the entity's Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) gave the government 15 days to outline what measures it has taken, such as the provision of adequate healthcare, to protect the indigenous peoples' livelihoods.

Florida COVID-19 cases soar again, California sees surge stabilize

The coronavirus pandemic raged in Florida on Monday as the state reported more than 10,000 new infections for the sixth day in a row, but California saw improvement, with cases and hospitalizations beginning to stabilize after a surge. Florida has become the epicenter of the latest COVID-19 surge, prompting the state's teachers union to sue Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over his plan to reopen schools for in-class instruction.

Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 522 to 202,345: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 522 to 202,345, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Tuesday. The reported death toll rose by four to 9,090, the tally showed.

U.S. FDA accepts Acadia's application for dementia drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday accepted Acadia Pharmaceuticals Inc's application for an antipsychotic drug to treat dementia patients with hallucinations and delusions. The regulator said it had set April 3, 2021, as the action date to decide on the drug's approval.

Mainland China reports 11 new coronavirus cases, including eight in Xinjiang

China reported 11 new coronavirus cases in the mainland for July 20, down from 22 cases from a day earlier, the health commission said on Tuesday. Of the new infections, eight were in the far western region of Xinjiang, according to a statement by the National Health Commission. The other three were imported cases.

Colombia's coronavirus cases top 200,000, deaths at nearly 7,000

Colombia's confirmed cases of coronavirus topped 200,000 on Monday, the health ministry said, while deaths from the disease reached 6,929 as the Andean country continues a months-long lockdown meant to stem infections. Colombia now has a total of 204,005 cases, still well behind other Latin American countries like Brazil, Peru, Mexico and Chile, which are among the 10 countries worldwide with the most infections.

Wave of promising study results raise hopes for coronavirus vaccines

Early data from trials of three potential COVID-19 vaccines released on Monday, including a closely-watched candidate from Oxford University, increased confidence that a vaccine can train the immune system to recognize and fight the novel coronavirus without serious side effects. Whether any of these efforts will result in a vaccine capable of protecting billions of people and ending the global pandemic that has claimed more than 600,000 lives is still far from clear. All will require much larger studies to prove they can safely prevent infection or serious disease.

Over a million doses of Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine possible by September - researcher

Early estimates of the production a million doses of the University of Oxford's experimental COVID-19 vaccine by September could be an underestimate depending on how quickly late-stage trials can be completed, a researcher said on Monday. "There might be a million doses manufactured by September: that now seems like a remarkable underestimate, given the scale of what's going on," Adrian Hill of the University of Oxford said, referring to the manufacturing capability of partner AstraZeneca.