Health News Roundup: Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus; NIH launches trial of Rigel drug for severe COVID-19 and more

The British government has been under intense pressure over the buckling of its promised "world-beating" system to test and trace coronavirus cases, meant to protect the country from a second wave of infection as schools reopened this month.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

U.S. plans for hundreds of millions of cheap, fast COVID-19 tests

U.S. manufacturers are sharply increasing production of cheap, fast - but less accurate - COVID-19 tests, aiming for 100 million per month by year end that will enable schools and workplaces to significantly expand testing. Manufacturing and government sources tell Reuters that more than half a dozen so-called antigen tests will likely be authorized by the end of October. U.S. regulators in recent months have authorized antigen tests from Abbott Laboratories, Becton Dickinson & Co, Quidel Corp and LumiraDX.

WHO's Ryan: don't turn COVID-19 into 'political football'

The World Health Organization's top emergency expert, asked on Thursday about contradictory remarks by President Donald Trump and U.S. health officials on COVID-19, said it was important for all countries to have "consistent messaging" for their public. Trump took exception on Wednesday to comments from the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Robert Redfield, who said a vaccine could be broadly rolled out in mid-2021 and masks might be more effective.

Dutch coronavirus cases hit record daily high: health authorities

The number of new coronavirus cases in the Netherlands hit a record high for the third consecutive day on Thursday at 1,753, data released by national health authorities showed. Total infections increased to 88,073.

Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

Global coronavirus cases are expected to pass 30 million on Thursday, with India firmly in focus as the latest epicentre after reporting yet another record jump in daily infections.

DEATHS AND INFECTIONS One in 7 reported COVID-19 infections is among health workers, WHO says

One in seven cases of COVID-19 reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a health worker and in some countries that figure rises to one in three, the agency said on Thursday. The WHO called for frontline medical workers to be provided with protective equipment to prevent them from being infected with the novel coronavirus, and potentially spreading it to their patients and families.

BioNTech buys German site from Novartis to boost vaccine output

BioNTech is buying a production site for the COVID-19 vaccine it is developing with Pfizer, aiming to boost output by several hundred million doses next year, and hopes to have the shot ready to file for approval in October. It is buying the facility, in the German city of Marburg, from Swiss drugs giant Novartis. The site is part of a complex started in 1904 by pioneering immunologist and Nobel laureate for medicine Emil von Behring, who used the prize money for the investment.

WHO says more than 170 countries have joined COVAX vaccine facility

More than 170 countries have joined the World Health Organisation's COVAX global vaccine plan to help buy and distribute immunisation shots for COVID-19 fairly around the world, the body's director general said. "More than 170 countries have joined the COVAX facility, gaining guaranteed access to the world's largest portfolio of vaccine candidates," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in pre-recorded comments on Thursday ahead of Friday's deadline to join the facility.

What you need to know about the coronavirus right now

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus right now: Global cases to reach grim milestone Only 14% of England COVID-19 tests come back in 24 hours, in sharp drop as system buckles

Only 14% of coronavirus test results in England came back within 24 hours last week, a sharp fall from the week before, according to data on Thursday that adds to pressure on a government fending off criticism that its strategy is collapsing. The British government has been under intense pressure over the buckling of its promised "world-beating" system to test and trace coronavirus cases, meant to protect the country from a second wave of infection as schools reopened this month.

NIH launches trial of Rigel drug for severe COVID-19

The U.S. National Institutes of Health on Thursday launched a clinical trial of fostamatinib, currently used to treat a blood platelet-destroying autoimmune disorder, in patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The tablets, sold under the brand name Tavalisse by Rigel Pharmaceuticals Inc, have shown in lab and animal studies the ability to block production of sticky, web-like substances that the immune system produces to trap foreign invaders.