Reuters Health News Summary

U.S. CDC reports 198,099 deaths from coronavirus The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 6,706,374 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 49,575 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 983 to 198,099.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Canada's Ontario cracks down on parties amid COVID-19 resurgence

Canada's most populous province is cracking down on private social gatherings as COVID-19 cases surge, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a surprise news conference called on Saturday. Ontario reported 407 new cases on Saturday compared with about 80 per day two weeks ago. Canada on Friday recorded 1,044 new cases from a day earlier, making it the third time in five days that new daily infections have topped 1,000. France reports new daily record in COVID-19 cases

France reported 13,498 new confirmed COVID-19 cases over the previous 24 hours, setting another record in daily additional infections since the start of the epidemic. The new cases pushed the cumulative total to 442,194 as the seven-day moving average of daily new infections rose to more than 9,700, compared with a low of 272 at the end of May, two weeks after the lockdown was lifted. Indonesia reports its biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections

Indonesia reported its biggest daily rise in coronavirus infections, with 4,168 new cases on Saturday, taking the total to 240,687, data from the country's health ministry showed. The data added 112 new deaths, taking the total to 9,448, the biggest death toll in Southeast Asia. Iran's coronavirus death toll exceeds 24,000 - health ministry

Around half of all coronavirus patients being treated in Iran’s intensive care units are dying, a government health specialist said on Saturday. The death toll among those on ventilators is 90%. “In all, 10% to 12% of hospitalised patients are losing their lives,” Masoud Mardani, a specialist of infectious diseases and a member of the government coronavirus task force, told the semi-official ISNA news agency. Explainer: When will COVID-19 vaccines be generally available in the U.S.?

U.S. President Donald Trump and the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) this week disagreed about when a COVID-19 vaccine would become widely available. Trump said on Friday that enough vaccine would be available for every American by April, while the CDC director said vaccines were likely to reach the general public around mid-2021, an assessment more in line with most experts. WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR A VACCINE TO BE GENERALLY AVAILABLE? Jump in France's daily COVID death toll tied to unreported hospital cases

A sudden jump in France's daily death toll from COVID-19 stems from previously unreported cases in one hospital near Paris, according to statements by health authorities. The health ministry reported on Friday that the total number of deaths from COVID-19 increased by 154 to 31,249, a four-month high in the daily death toll and triple the levels of the past week. UK reports biggest increase in COVID cases since May 8

The United Kingdom reported 4,422 new daily cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, 100 more new cases than on Friday and the highest daily total since May 8. UK risks new lockdown as COVID cases hit highest since May

Britain is likely to need to reintroduce some national coronavirus lockdown measures sooner rather than later, a leading epidemiologist said on Saturday, as new cases rose to their highest level since early May. Neil Ferguson, a professor of epidemiology at London's Imperial College and a former government adviser, told the BBC the country was facing a "perfect storm" of rising infections as people return to work and school. U.S. CDC reports 198,099 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Saturday reported 6,706,374 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 49,575 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 983 to 198,099. The CDC's tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by the new coronavirus, was as of 4 p.m. ET on Sept. 18 versus its previous report a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/3mBxSCP) U.S. reverses COVID-19 testing guidance again: exposed without symptoms need tests

The Trump administration reversed guidance Friday on COVID-19 testing for a second time, urging those exposed to people with the virus to get tested even if they are not displaying symptoms. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) sparked widespread outcry among state public health officials and experts in late August when it said that people who do not have symptoms may not need to get tested.