Health News Roundup: France reports nearly 50,000 new COVID-19 cases; Global coronavirus cases rise by single-day record of half a million and more

Task force sees 'unrelenting' COVID-19 spread; daily U.S. cases up by record 91,000 The White House coronavirus task force warned that much of the country is in the grips of an "unrelenting" surge in COVID-19 cases and urged tough countermeasures, as the number of U.S. infections reported on Thursday hit a new daily record of more than 91,000.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fauci says first U.S. COVID-19 vaccines could ship late December or early January

If all goes well, the first doses of a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine will likely become available to some high-risk Americans in late December or early January, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious diseases expert, said on Thursday. Based on current projections from vaccine front-runners Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc, Americans will likely know "sometime in December whether or not we have a safe and effective vaccine," Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a live chat on Twitter and Facebook.

Task force sees 'unrelenting' COVID-19 spread; daily U.S. cases up by record 91,000

The White House coronavirus task force warned that much of the country is in the grips of an "unrelenting" surge in COVID-19 cases and urged tough countermeasures, as the number of U.S. infections reported on Thursday hit a new daily record of more than 91,000. The hardest-hit regions in the West and Midwest encompass a number of battleground states expected to play a pivotal role in Tuesday's U.S. presidential election contest between Republican incumbent Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden.

New Zealand approves euthanasia, set to reject recreational marijuana

New Zealand has provisionally voted to legalise euthanasia but is on course to reject law changes that would allow recreational marijuana use, the country's Electoral Commission said on Friday. New Zealand voted on the two referendums this month while casting ballots during a general election that returned Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to power.

Analysis: What do waning COVID-19 antibodies tell us about immunity and vaccines?

Growing evidence that COVID-19 antibody levels can wane swiftly after someone is infected is not necessarily bad news for immunity, experts said on Thursday, and does not mean protection offered by coronavirus vaccines will be weak or short-lived. Specialists in immunology and viruses warned against reading too much into studies of antibody levels in the blood of people previously infected with COVID-19, cautioning that antibody readings do not translate directly into levels of protective immunity.

Global coronavirus cases rise by single-day record of half a million

Global coronavirus cases rose by more than 500,000 for the first time on Wednesday, a record one-day increase as countries across the Northern Hemisphere reported daily spikes. Global daily COVID-19 cases have risen by nearly 25% in less than two weeks as the world witnessed 400,000 daily reported cases for the first time last Friday. (Graphic: https://tmsnrt.rs/34JDOD7)

EU to fund transfer of COVID-19 patients across borders to prevent hospitals collapse

The European Union will finance the transfer of patients across borders within the bloc to prevent hospitals from getting overwhelmed as COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations spike in the continent. After a video conference of EU leaders to discuss the health crisis on Thursday, the head of the EU Commission Ursula von der Leyen said the EU executive had made available 220 million euros ($260 million) to move COVID-19 patients across borders.

Brazil's Bolsonaro says fresh COVID lockdown measures are 'crazy'

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a longtime critic of stay-at-home measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, said on Thursday that it was "crazy" for countries to start locking down again to control second waves of the virus. Most Western countries and parts of Latin America have reported their highest single-day surges in the past few weeks. Many governments, with the notable exception of the United States, have started taking stronger measures to bring the spread of the virus under control.

U.S. breaks daily record for coronavirus cases with over 91,000 new infections

The United States broke its single-day record for new coronavirus infections on Thursday, reporting over 91,000 new cases, as hospitalizations also hit new highs in many states, according to a Reuters tally. The spike in cases comes less a week before the presidential election on Tuesday.

Social media disinformation campaigns tied to vaccine hesitancy

Social media disinformation campaigns designed to cast doubt on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines are contributing to vaccine hesitancy and a meaningful drop in annual coverage, a new cross-national study suggests. Researchers examined overall Twitter use per country from 2018 to 2019 in a global database of geocoded tweets, then extracted data on 258,769 tweets related to vaccinations. They measured the sentiment of tweets using the Polyglot Python Library; assessed the aggressiveness of foreign vaccine disinformation campaigns on a 5-point scale with higher scores indicating more intense efforts. They also examined public attitudes about vaccine safety and vaccination rates for 10 common vaccine doses between 2008 and 2018.

France reports nearly 50,000 new COVID-19 cases

France on Thursday reported 47,637 new confirmed coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, compared to 36,437 on Wednesday and a record high of 52,010 on Sunday. The total number of infections rose to over 1.28 million. The death tally went up by 235 to 36,020.