Health News Roundup: Russia calls for examining U.S. moves 'against the WHO'; Britain opens investigation into coronavirus test and trace glitch and more

UK PM Johnson says soaring COVID-19 cases in line with forecasts British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the current soaring number of COVID-19 cases was about where government forecasts had predicted so the next weeks would be crucial to see if local lockdowns could get on top of the virus.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Trump's medical status unclear as doctors say he could be discharged on Monday

President Donald Trump could be discharged from the hospital where he is being treated for COVID-19 as soon as Monday, according to his doctors, although his condition remains unclear and outside experts warn that his case may be severe. Sequestered at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center outside Washington since Friday, Trump has released a series of videos in an effort to reassure the public that he is recovering from a pandemic that has infected 7.4 million Americans and killed more than 209,000.

Russia calls for examining U.S. moves 'against the WHO'

Russia called on Monday for an evaluation of the legal and financial repercussions of the Trump administration announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the World Health Organization (WHO) next July. Russia's delegation, addressing a two-day meeting of WHO's Executive Board, said: "We need to analyse legal procedures and administrative and financial procedures regarding steps taken by the United States against the WHO."

Scientists who helped identify Hepatitis C virus win 2020 Nobel Medicine Prize

Two Americans and a Briton won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for work in identifying the Hepatitis C virus, which causes cirrhosis and liver cancer. The discoveries by scientists Harvey Alter, Charles Rice and Briton Michael Houghton meant there was now a chance of eradicating the Hepatitis C virus completely, the award-giving body said.

Britain opens investigation into coronavirus test and trace glitch

Britain's government has launched an investigation into why a technical issue with its test and trace programme had not been identified sooner, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday. Britain reported a jump in COVID-19 cases after a technical issue meant that more than 15,000 test results had not been transferred into computer systems on time, including for contact tracers, a response that is seen as key to control the virus.

U.S. calls for WHO reforms, timely information on outbreaks

The United States, in apparent criticism of China, said on Monday that it could not tolerate the "failure" of a member state of the World Health Organization (WHO) to provide accurate, complete and timely information about disease outbreaks. U.S. assistant health secretary Brett Giroir, speaking to the WHO Executive Board, also called for acting on proposed WHO reforms by countries including the United States, Germany, France and Chile.

New Zealand's Ardern lifts coronavirus restrictions in Auckland

Coronavirus restrictions in New Zealand's largest city will be lifted this week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday as she expressed confidence a second wave of COVID-19 infections in Auckland has been almost eliminated. The city will move to alert level 1 from 11.59 p.m. on Wednesday, joining the rest of the country, after reporting no new cases in the Auckland cluster for 10 consecutive days.

UK PM Johnson says soaring COVID-19 cases in line with forecasts

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that the current soaring number of COVID-19 cases was about where government forecasts had predicted so the next weeks would be crucial to see if local lockdowns could get on top of the virus. "The incidence that we're seeing in the cases really sort of corresponds to pretty much where we thought we were," Johnson said after Britain reported a jump in daily COVID-19 cases to a record 22,961 on Sunday.

UK PM Johnson plays down technical failure of COVID-19 testing data system

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday sought to play down a failure in England's COVID-19 testing data system that delayed 15,841 results, saying the much higher updated figures were more in line with forecasts of the outbreak's spread. The glitch is likely to cast further doubt over Johnson's handling of the coronavirus pandemic: his Conservative government's response has been cast by political opponents as slow, poorly organised and confusing.

Mental health services disrupted during pandemic, as needs grow: WHO

Services for mentally ill and substance abuse patients have been disrupted worldwide during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the disease is expected to cause further distress for many, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday.

Only 7% of the 134 countries responding to the WHO's survey One in 10 may have caught COVID, as world heads into 'difficult period': WHO

Roughly 1 in 10 people may have been infected with the novel coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world's population vulnerable to the related COVID-19 disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday. Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, told the agency's Executive Board that outbreaks were surging in parts of southeast Asia and that cases and deaths were on the rise in parts of Europe and the eastern Mediterranean region.

(With inputs from agencies.)