Health News Roundup: UK reports 24,957 new COVID cases, The COVID vaccine race and more

The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over a million lives worldwide: Portugal imposes local night-time curfews as COVID-19 cases hit record Portugal will impose localised night-time curfews from Monday to contain the spread of the coronavirus as the number of cases reached a record high, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced in the early hours of Sunday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

UK reports 24,957 new COVID cases, 413 more deaths

Britain reported 24,957 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday and 413 deaths from the virus, both up on figures from the day before, government data showed.

Q&A: Where are we in the COVID-19 vaccine race?

Drugmakers and research centers around the world are working on COVID-19 vaccines, with large global trials of several of the candidates involving tens of thousands of participants well underway. Some companies had suggested early trial data could be ready for release in October, but have since pushed that back to November and December.

The following is what we know about the race to deliver vaccines to help end the coronavirus pandemic that has claimed over a million lives worldwide:

Portugal imposes local night-time curfews as COVID-19 cases hit record

Portugal will impose localised night-time curfews from Monday to contain the spread of the coronavirus as the number of cases reached a record high, Prime Minister Antonio Costa announced in the early hours of Sunday. "We cannot have the slightest doubt that everything must be done to contain the pandemic," Costa told a news conference. "If we fail to do so, we must increasingly adopt more restrictive measures and compromise the month of December."

U.S. reports record increase in COVID-19 cases for fourth straight day

The United States on Saturday reported a record increase in new coronavirus cases for a fourth consecutive day with at least 130,138 new infections, according to a Reuters tally. Seventeen states reported record one-day increase on Saturday while 14 states reported record daily numbers of hospitilized patients.

Argentina agrees deal for 22 million doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19 vaccine

Argentina has struck a deal with drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc to receive around 22 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine being developed with the University of Oxford, with the aim to start deliveries in the first half of next year. The drugmaker, one of a number developing vaccines worldwide to fight the novel coronavirus, said in a statement circulated by the government on Saturday that the delivery time-frame depended on ongoing trials being successful and obtaining necessary approvals by regulatory authorities.

French COVID-19 deaths top 40,000

The total number of deaths in France from COVID-19 has topped 40,000 for the first time while the number of new cases hit a fresh record, health ministry data showed. New deaths from the disease reached 40,169, of which 27,660 have been in hospitals, including 306 in the last 24 hours, the ministry said in its daily report on the outbreak.

Texas becomes first U.S. state to exceed 1 million coronavirus cases

Texas became the first state to surpass a million coronavirus cases in the United States on Saturday, as the country battled a third wave of new infections and recorded over 100,000 infections three times in less than a week. In Texas, the surge in new cases in the past week came mainly from Harris, Dallas and El Paso counties, based on a Reuters tally. The surge is straining medical facilities, with the city of El Paso converting a convention center into a field hospital.

Combative U.S. FDA panel votes against Biogen Alzheimer's drug

A panel of outside advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday voted that a potential Alzheimer's treatment from Biogen Inc has not been proven to slow progression of the disease, a sharp rebuke to agency staff who earlier this week praised the drug. The FDA still could decide to approve the drug, aducanumab, making it the first new Alzheimer's treatment in decades. But the group of scientific advisers made their doubts about the treatment clear.

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.

Common cold antibodies hold clues to COVID-19 behavior; lung scans speed COVID-19 diagnosis in stroke patients

Common cold antibodies yield clues to COVID-19 behavior.

Second Mexican state to enter highest coronavirus alert level

A second Mexican state will from next week enter the highest level of coronavirus alert as authorities bid to contain a recent jump in infections in the north of the country, the health ministry said on Friday. The northern state of Durango will as of Monday join Chihuahua, a neighboring region on the U.S. border, in the red alert phase following an increase in hospitalizations.