Reuters Health News Summary

The country had 1,266 new cases on Thursday, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, surpassing the previous record of 1,264, with infections spreading rapidly not only in Tokyo, but also in other regions including remote islands.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Proportion of contacts reached by English COVID-19 tracing slips

The proportion of the contacts of positive COVID-19 cases reached by England's test and trace system slipped slightly to 75.1% in the latest week of data, from 78.4% in the previous week, the government said on Thursday. It said 3,455 people who had tested positive for coronavirus were reached by its tracers and asked to share details of their close contacts in the week to July 22. Number of coronavirus cases in Iran passes 300,000 - Health Ministry

The number of infections from the new coronavirus in Iran has reached 301,530, according to official Health Ministry figures announced on state TV on Thursday. Iran has the Middle East’s highest number of recorded COVID-19 cases and infections and deaths have risen sharply since restrictions on movement began to be eased in mid-April. Japan braces for coronavirus spike amid domestic travel campaign

Japan is bracing for a surge in the number of coronavirus infections after new daily cases exceeded 1,000 for a second straight day, a week after the start of a national travel campaign to revive the tourism industry. The country had 1,266 new cases on Thursday, according to a tally by national broadcaster NHK, surpassing the previous record of 1,264, with infections spreading rapidly not only in Tokyo, but also in other regions including remote islands. Daily coronavirus cases in India top 50,000 for first time

India on Thursday reported more than 50,000 daily coronavirus cases for the first time, driven by a surge in infections in rural areas at a time when the government is further easing curbs on movement and commerce. There were 52,123 new cases in the previous 24 hours, according to federal health data, taking the total number of infections to almost 1.6 million. A big obstacle: Where can CanSino test its vaccine abroad?

CanSino Biologics Inc, one of many companies worldwide trying to develop a coronavirus vaccine, needs to conduct late-stage trials overseas if it is to stay in the race, experts say, but it has yet to announce another country willing to help. Mid-stage trials showed that its vaccine did not work as well in people with immunity to a particular strain of the common cold virus and experts say it needs to broaden its pool of testing in Phase III trials to see if that outcome, described by the company as "the biggest obstacle", is replicated abroad. EU warns of risk of syringe shortages for possible COVID-19 vaccine

The European Union has warned member states of the risk of shortages of syringes, wipes and protective gear needed for potential mass vaccinations against COVID-19 and urged them to consider joint procurement, according to an EU document. The bloc has also asked EU governments to consider jointly buying more shots against influenza and increase the number of people vaccinated to reduce the risk of simultaneous flu and COVID-19 outbreaks in the autumn. Coronavirus spikes in Asia spur warnings against complacency

Spikes in novel coronavirus infections in Asia have dispelled any notion the region may be over the worst, with Australia, India and Hong Kong reporting record daily cases, Vietnam testing thousands and North Korea urging vigilance. Asian governments had largely prided themselves on rapidly containing initial outbreaks after the virus emerged in central China late last year, but flare-ups this month have shown the danger of complacency. Inovio vaccine candidate shows promise in non-human study

Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Thursday its coronavirus vaccine candidate was effective in protecting rhesus macaques from the virus 13 weeks after the last vaccination, sending its shares up 20% before the bell. The results, submitted to a peer-reviewed journal and also published on the non-peer reviewed preprint site, bioRxiv, demonstrate that INO-4800 reduced viral load in both the lower lungs and nasal passages in monkeys who received two doses of the vaccine four weeks apart. Johnson & Johnson starts human safety trial for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate

Johnson & Johnson on Thursday kicked off U.S. human safety trials for its COVID-19 vaccine after releasing details of a study in monkeys that showed its best-performing vaccine candidate offered strong protection in a single dose. When exposed to the virus, six out of six animals who got the vaccine candidate were completely protected from lung disease and five out of six were protected from infection as measured by the presence of virus in nasal swabs, according to the study published in the journal Nature. U.S. records a coronavirus death every minute as total surpasses 150,000

One person in the United States died about every minute from COVID-19 on Wednesday as the national death toll surpassed 150,000, the highest in the world The United States recorded 1,461 new deaths on Wednesday, the highest one-day increase since 1,484 on May 27, according to a Reuters tally.