Reuters Health News Summary

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Trump campaigns to Michigan crowd, defying state coronavirus safety rules Japan debates completely removing coronavirus curbs on some events Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, at the opening of meeting of a panel of health experts, that he wanted to remove coronavirus-related restrictions on events such as Kabuki theatre performances and classical music concerts.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Russia reports 5,504 new coronavirus cases, 102 deaths

Russia reported 5,504 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the national tally to 1,051,874, the fourth largest in the world. Authorities said 102 people had died in the past 24 hours, pushing the official death toll to 18,365. Romania's coronavirus cases surpass 100,000 - government

Romania's total of coronavirus cases has passed 100,000, the government said on Friday and authorities are set to extend a state of alert by a month, with face masks mandatory in all indoor spaces. There were 1,391 new cases recorded, taking the overall total to 101,075 cases, with a total death toll of 4,100. What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Trump campaigns to Michigan crowd, defying state coronavirus safety rules Japan debates completely removing coronavirus curbs on some events

Japanese Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Friday, at the opening of meeting of a panel of health experts, that he wanted to remove coronavirus-related restrictions on events such as Kabuki theatre performances and classical music concerts. Nishmura added that cases of infection tied to such events have been falling. He also said the government wanted to remove some restrictions on other events, such as rock concerts. The panel was set to debate these measures following Nishimura's remarks. Special Report: Big Pharma wages stealth war on drug price watchdog

As evidence grew this spring that the drug remdesivir was helping COVID-19 patients, some Wall Street investors bet on analysts’ estimates that its maker, Gilead Sciences Inc , could charge up to $10,000 for the treatment. Then a small but increasingly influential drug-pricing research organization, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), said the treatment only justified a price between $2,800 and $5,000. Shortly after, Gilead announced it would charge about $3,100 for a five-day treatment and $5,700 for ten days - in line with the ICER recommendation. Almost 100 Senegalese soldiers test positive for coronavirus

Nearly 100 Senegalese soldiers tested positive this week for the coronavirus after returning home from a deployment in neighbouring Gambia, a military source said on Friday. The source said testing continued of the contingent of 600 soldiers, who are part of a force deployed in 2017 to enforce President Adama Barrow's election victory over then-President Yahya Jammeh. England launches COVID-19 app to boost contact tracing

Britain said it will launch a new COVID-19 app across England and Wales later this month which will allow people to use QR codes when they enter venues, boosting the country's contact tracing to help keep the spread of the virus in check. With cases rising, Health Minister Matt Hancock said the new app would help NHS (National Health Service) Test and Trace, the scheme used in England to contact those who have been in contact with a COVID-infected person, to reach more people. England's COVID-19 infections doubling each week - Imperial College study

The spread of the coronavirus is speeding up across all parts of England with the number of cases doubling about every week, according to a new study by Imperial College, which will fuel concerns that renewed restrictions may need be introduced. The infection rate is rising in all age groups apart from those over 65, and cases are no longer clustering in hospitals or care homes as they were a few months ago, suggesting the virus is circulating more widely, Imperial found. Vaccine confidence volatile, vulnerable to misinformation, global study finds

Political polarisation and online misinformation are threatening vaccination programmes worldwide, with public trust volatile and varying widely between countries, according to a global vaccine confidence study. The study, which maps trends in vaccine confidence across 149 countries between 2015 and 2019, found that scepticism about the safety of vaccines tended to grow alongside political instability and religious extremism. Millions of COVID-19 cases went undetected in India, research paper estimates

Millions of coronavirus cases may have gone undetected in India earlier this year, a research paper estimates, saying that for every confirmed case in May, there were 82 to 130 infections that were not recorded. The paper, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, estimated that the country had nearly 6.5 million cases as early as May. Total cases stood at more than 180,000 in late May, according to the health ministry.