Health News Roundup: Pfizer in talks with Brazil to supply COVID-19 vaccine by early 2021; Chicago and Detroit told to hunker down as pandemic surges and more

Chicago and Detroit told to hunker down as pandemic surges Chicago's mayor issued a month-long stay-at-home advisory on Thursday, and Detroit's public schools called a halt to in-person instruction to curb the spread of the coronavirus as more than a dozen U.S. states reported a doubling of new COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Pfizer in talks with Brazil to supply COVID-19 vaccine by early 2021

The head of Pfizer Inc in Brazil said on Thursday the drugmaker is negotiating with the South American nation to supply its potential COVID-19 vaccine in the first quarter of 2021. "We are working strongly with the Brazilian government to try to fast-track the availability (of the vaccine) in Brazil as fast as possible," Carlos Murillo said during an online event.

Europe 'must grit teeth' on COVID-19 as vaccine euphoria fades

European officials warned against COVID-19 complacency on Thursday and said measures to control a surge in infections as winter approaches must continue despite hopes that new vaccines can bring the pandemic under control. This week's announcement by Pfizer Inc of a potentially effective vaccine spurred optimism that an end to months of crisis could be in sight, sending financial markets soaring and fuelling public longing for a nearly normal Christmas.

Ontario close to cancelling non-essential surgeries again as coronavirus cases spike

Canada's most populous province Ontario may have to begin suspending non-essential surgeries again starting in two weeks as surging coronavirus cases fill hospital intensive care units, according to modeling released on Thursday. Rising cases in neighboring Quebec prompted the province's government to weigh temporary school closures, while Alberta, which has Canada's second-highest rate of active cases, banned group fitness and team sports for two weeks in some regions.

Measles surging as COVID-19 curbs disrupt vaccinations

Measles surged to infect almost 870,000 people across the world in 2019, the worst figures in almost a quarter of a century as vaccination levels fell below critical levels, a report said on Thursday. Millions of children are at risk of the disease again this year as restrictions imposed to contain the COVID-19 pandemic further disrupt immunisation programmes, the report co-led by the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

Ethnic minorities disproportionately affected by coronavirus: The Lancet

Ethnic minority groups are disproportionately affected by the novel coronavirus, with Blacks and Asians at increased risk of COVID-19 infection compared to white individuals, according to an analysis published in The Lancet medical journal https://bit.ly/3kol5kR. About 18.7 million patients from 50 studies were included to establish the findings, the analysis said. Forty-two of the studies were from the United States and eight from the United Kingdom.

South Korea begins fining people flouting mask rules, reports 191 new coronavirus cases

South Korea will begin fining people who fail to wear masks in public on Friday as it reported 191 new coronavirus cases, with daily infections continuing to creep higher. People caught without masks in public venues, including nightclubs, malls, theme parks and hair salons, face fines of up to 100,000 won ($89.75), while the operators of those places could pay up to 3 million won in fines.

New Zealand reopens Auckland city centre after COVID-19 scare, mask-wearing urged

New Zealand reopened downtown Auckland on Friday after contact tracing of a new coronavirus case revealed it was linked to a known case from a border isolation facility, reversing an earlier call for people to work from home. Health Minister Chris Hipkins said genome sequence testing of the locally transmitted case, which was discovered on Thursday, had shown it was linked to a known case and there was less risk of a wider unseen spread.

Chicago and Detroit told to hunker down as pandemic surges

Chicago's mayor issued a month-long stay-at-home advisory on Thursday, and Detroit's public schools called a halt to in-person instruction to curb the spread of the coronavirus as more than a dozen U.S. states reported a doubling of new COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks. The two Midwestern cities became the latest in a growing number of states and metropolitan areas - including New York, California and Iowa - moving this week to re-impose public health restrictions that had been eased in recent months.

U.S. government partners with pharmacy chains to increase COVID-19 vaccine access

The U.S. government is partnering with regional pharmacy chains and independent community pharmacies to increase access to COVID-19 vaccines whenever they are made available, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services said on Thursday. The partnership will cover about 60% of pharmacies throughout the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the U.S. health agency said.

COVID-19 fatality rate down 30% since April, study finds

The likelihood that a coronavirus infection will prove fatal has dropped by nearly a third since April due to improved treatment, researchers at the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) said on Thursday. In the United States, COVID-19 now kills about 0.6% of people infected with the virus, compared with around 0.9% early in the pandemic, IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray told Reuters.

(With inputs from agencies.)