Health News Roundup: Mexico nears 70,000 official COVID deaths; No new nationwide lockdown over COVID in France and more

Fauci, the outspoken director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the United States was starting the flu season with a high baseline of around 40,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and deaths are averaging around 1,000 daily.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Mexico nears 70,000 official COVID-19 deaths, but toll likely far higher

The confirmed coronavirus death toll in Mexico is primed to hit 70,000 when official data is released on Friday, a grim milestone for a country among those most affected by the pandemic. Making matters worse, excess mortality data from mid-March through early August indicates that the total number of deaths beyond the official count is likely tens of thousands higher.

French PM: No new nationwide lockdown over COVID-19 surge

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Friday his government was not planning a new, nationwide lockdown to contain a resurgence in COVID-19 cases, but would instead implement a raft of less radical measures. France has the world's seventh highest COVID death toll, and President Emmanuel Macron's government is trying to curb the virus while ensuring that economic and social activities, such as schoolchildren's education, can continue as much as possible.

Children carried COVID-19 home from Utah childcare centers, infecting family members: U.S. report

Twelve children who likely contracted COVID-19 at three childcare operations in Utah infected some of their parents and siblings, according to a U.S. study, adding to evidence that very young kids can transmit the disease. Previous studies had suggested children aged 10 years or older can efficiently transmit COVID-19 in school settings.

Fauci disagrees with Trump on coronavirus, cites disturbing U.S. statistics

Top government infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday he disagreed with President Donald Trump's assessment the United States has "rounded the corner" on the coronavirus pandemic, saying the statistics are disturbing. Fauci, the outspoken director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the United States was starting the flu season with a high baseline of around 40,000 new COVID-19 cases a day and deaths are averaging around 1,000 daily.

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

Exclusive: U.S. hospitals turn down remdesivir, limit use to sickest COVID-19 patients

U.S. hospitals have turned down about a third of their allocated supplies of the COVID-19 drug remdesivir since July as need for the costly antiviral wanes, according to unpublished government statistics provided to Reuters by a U.S. pharmacists' group. Some hospitals said they are still buying the Gilead Sciences medicine to build inventory in case the pandemic accelerates over the winter. But they said current supplies are adequate, in part because they are limiting use to severely ill patients.

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.

U.S. CDC reports 191,353 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 6,381,013 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 37,451 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,091 to 191,353. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 10 versus its previous report a day earlier.(https://bit.ly/2GDSzxr)

Restaurant dining linked to COVID-19; severe illness less common with GI symptoms

The following is a 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. Positive COVID-19 tests linked with restaurant dining.

Indian state exceeds 1 million coronavirus cases, rivalling Russia, stifling recovery

India's biggest and richest state, Maharashtra, recorded its millionth coronavirus infection on Friday, putting it on par with Russia in the pandemic and stifling India's attempts to turn around an economic plummet. Cases in the western state, home to financial capital Mumbai, passed 1 million as infections have been rising some 20,000 a day recently. If it were a country, the state would now rival Russia for the fourth-highest caseload globally.

(With inputs from agencies.)