Health News Roundup: Breathing with face mask does not alter oxygen level; NY governor closes school in COIVD hot spots and more

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.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Breathing with face mask does not alter oxygen level; virus can last nine hours on skin

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. Breathing with face masks does not affect the lungs.

New York governor closes schools in coronavirus hot spots

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday agreed to New York City's plan to close schools in nine coronavirus "hot spots" in Brooklyn and Queens, but said he was still discussing whether non-essential businesses should be shut down again in those areas. The closing of both private and public schools in those areas will begin on Tuesday, Cuomo said, bringing forward the plan announced by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio by a day.

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.

COVID-19 cases surge in U.S. Midwest and Northeast

After crushing their COVID-19 outbreaks in the spring and keeping them in check all summer, states in the U.S. Northeast are now seeing infections accelerate, with New York reporting nearly 10,000 new cases last week. Compared with the previous seven days, new cases in New York rose 102% in the week ended Oct. 4, while new cases in Connecticut rose 61% to 1,710 and new cases in New Jersey rose 23% to 4,650, according to a Reuters analysis of state and county reports. (Open https://tmsnrt.rs/2WTOZDR in an external browser for a Reuters graphic with state-by-state details)

Virus-hunting trio win Nobel for hepatitis C discovery

Two Americans and a Briton won the 2020 Nobel Prize for Medicine on Monday for identifying the hepatitis C virus, in work spanning decades that has helped to limit the spread of the fatal disease and develop drugs to cure it. The discoveries by Harvey Alter, Charles Rice and Briton Michael Houghton mean there is now a chance of eradicating the hepatitis C virus - a goal the World Health Organization wants to achieve in the next decade.

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.

'No isolation, few tests': Argentina has world's highest COVID-19 positive rate

Argentina has the world's highest rate of positive COVID-19 tests, according to Oxford-linked tracker Our World In Data, with nearly six out of 10 yielding an infection, a reflection of low testing levels and loose enforcement of lockdown rules. Argentina was set to hit 800,000 confirmed cases on Monday, with an seven-day rolling average of around 12,500 new daily infections. The country, which started strongly against the virus, passed 20,000 fatalities last week.

COVID-19 could spread by airborne transmission: CDC

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in an updated guidance on Monday said COVID-19 can spread through airborne transmission, a month after it took down a similar warning. It said some people could get infected by exposure to the novel coronavirus in small droplets and particles, or aerosols, that can linger in the air for minutes to hours. (https://bit.ly/3ndJxIi)

One in 10 may have caught COVID, as world heads into 'difficult period': WHO

Roughly one in 10 people may have been infected with the coronavirus, leaving the vast majority of the world's population vulnerable to the COVID-19 disease it causes, the World Health Organization said on Monday. Mike Ryan, the WHO's top emergency expert, was addressing the agency's Executive Board, where the United States made a thinly veiled swipe at China for what it called a "failure" to provide accurate and timely information on the outbreak.

U.S. CDC reports 209,199 deaths from coronavirus

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday reported 7,396,730 cases of the new coronavirus, an increase of 36,778 from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 378 to 209,199. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 pm ET on Oct. 4 versus its previous report a day earlier.(https://bit.ly/34pQuxw)