Health News Roundup: India's coronavirus infections rise to 6.76 million; Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus and more

The surge of COVID hospitalizations and new cases in some states coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump and several members of his White House staff testing positive for the novel coronavirus.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Trump administration will cease federal funding to hospitals that do not report COVID-19 data

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will halt some federal funding to hospitals that do not comply with its requirements for reporting data on COVID-19, senior administration officials told reporters on a Tuesday call. Starting Wednesday, hospitals will be given 14 weeks to provide daily reporting to HHS on COVID-19 cases and deaths, as well as other information such as influenza cases and use of personal protective equipment, the officials said.

Six U.S. states report record COVID hospitalizations, new restrictions in place

Six states reported record numbers of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, including Wisconsin, where officials on Tuesday issued a new order limiting the size of indoor public gatherings. The surge of COVID hospitalizations and new cases in some states coincides with U.S. President Donald Trump and several members of his White House staff testing positive for the novel coronavirus. Trump's doctors on Tuesday said he was not displaying any acute symptoms after he left the Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was treated for three days.

China's experimental COVID-19 vaccine appears safe: study

A Chinese experimental coronavirus vaccine being developed by the Institute of Medical Biology under the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences was shown to be safe in an early stage clinical trial, researchers said. In a Phase 1 trial of 191 healthy participants aged between 18 and 59, vaccination with the group's experimental shot showed no severe adverse reactions, its researchers said on Tuesday in a paper https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.09.27.20189548v1 posted on medRxiv preprint server ahead of peer review.

U.S. vaccine program head Slaoui expects Pfizer, Moderna vaccine data readouts in November-December

The chief adviser for the U.S. government's Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 vaccine program, Moncef Slaoui, on Tuesday said efficacy data readouts are expected from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc between next month and December. Speaking at a symposium conducted by the Johns Hopkins University and the University of Washington, Slaoui said data readouts from leading vaccine developers are expected to come in three waves over the next several months.

India's coronavirus infections rise to 6.76 million

India's tally of coronavirus infections stood at 6.76 million on Wednesday, rising by 72,049 cases in the last 24 hours, health ministry data showed, while the death toll was up 986 at 104,555. India's death toll from the virus rose past 100,000 on Saturday, making it the third country to reach that bleak milestone after the United States and Brazil, and its epidemic shows no sign of abating.

U.S. FDA safety guidelines likely to push COVID-19 vaccine authorization past election

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration told coronavirus vaccine developers on Tuesday it wants at least two months of safety data before authorizing emergency use, a requirement that would likely push any U.S. vaccine availability past the Nov. 3 presidential election. A senior administration official confirmed the White House had approved the plan, which undercuts President Donald Trump's hopes of getting a vaccine before voters go to polls.

Australia's Victoria state reaches lower infection milestone

Australia's city of Melbourne, capital of the coronavirus hotspot state of Victoria, on Wednesday reported the lowest two-week average of new cases after a second contagion wave that led to one of the world's toughest lockdowns. For the first time since the second coronavirus outbreak caused more than 800 deaths in the state - more than 90% of the country's 897 virus-related deaths - the two-week average has fallen below 10.

Fauci says White House COVID-19 infections could have been prevented

Top U.S. infectious diseases expert Dr. Anthony Fauci, whose advocacy of public health guidelines to fight the coronavirus has conflicted with President Donald Trump's downplaying of the pandemic, said on Tuesday the recent rash of infections at the White House could have been prevented. Several close aides to Trump and senior Republican politicians have tested positive for the coronavirus since the Republican president announced on Friday that he and first lady Melania Trump had contracted the virus.

Roche distribution centre issue in England causes delay in products, including COVID tests: NHS

Roche alerted hospitals to an issue with the supply chain at its distribution centre in southern England, causing a delay in dispatch of some products including tests for the novel coronavirus, the National Health Service (NHS) said on Tuesday. "We are prioritising the dispatch of COVID-19 PCR and antibody tests and doing everything we can to ensure there is no impact on the supply of these to the NHS," Roche said in a statement.

Latest on the worldwide spread of coronavirus

The coronavirus aid and the disease's spread in the White House were in focus, as President Donald Trump halted talks with Congress over a large stimulus, while White House senior adviser Stephen Miller also contracted the virus. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

(With inputs from agencies.)