Reuters Health News Summary

Mexico fatalities from COVID-19 rise to single-day record of 1,803 Mexico's health ministry confirmed 1,803 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, marking a record high since the pandemic began last year, as fatalities continue to tick up in the country with the world's fourth-highest death toll.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 17,862: RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 17,862 to 2,106,262, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Friday. The reported death toll rose by 859 to 50,642, the tally showed. Tokyo 2020 chief expects vaccine rollout to aid Games

Six months from the start of the rearranged Olympics, Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto is cautiously hopeful that successful rollouts of COVID-19 vaccines can help lead to the safe and successful staging of the world's largest sporting event. Last year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japanese government made the unprecedented decision to postpone the Games for a year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Beijing launches mass virus tests as China's daily tally drops slightly

Beijing launched mass COVID-19 testing in some areas on Friday, while Shanghai was testing all hospital staff as China battles its worst outbreak of the disease since March and families fret over reunion plans for the Lunar New Year amid new curbs. Mainland China reported a slight decline in new daily COVID-19 cases on Friday - 103 from 144 cases a day earlier. West Virginia touts COVID-19 vaccination success story as national rollout sputters

Even as President Joe Biden laments the nation's sluggish COVID-19 immunization launch for a pace he calls "dismal," West Virginia is touting its relative success in making the most of vaccine supplies it has received so far. Fewer than half of the nearly 38 million vaccine doses shipped to date by the federal government have actually made it into the arms of Americans, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday. Mexico fatalities from COVID-19 rise to single-day record of 1,803

Mexico's health ministry confirmed 1,803 new coronavirus deaths on Thursday, marking a record high since the pandemic began last year, as fatalities continue to tick up in the country with the world's fourth-highest death toll. The previous record was set earlier this week at over 1,500 deaths caused by the fast-spreading respiratory disease. UK COVID death toll reaches 94,580, hits daily vaccination record

The death toll from COVID-19 in the United Kingdom hit 94,580 on Thursday after the country recorded another 1,290 fatalities, while official data showed medics had delivered a new high of 363,508 vaccines in the last 24 hours. Britain has been hit hard by the latest wave of the pandemic, with daily fatalities routinely over 1,000. It recorded on Wednesday a new daily high of 1,820 deaths of people who had tested positive for the disease within 28 days. Hong Kong to place tens of thousands in lockdown for first time: report

Hong Kong will place tens of thousands of its residents in a lockdown to contain a new outbreak of the coronavirus, the first such measure the Chinese-ruled city has taken since the pandemic began, a local newspaper reported on Friday. South China Morning Post, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation, said the new measure will target the Jordan and Sham Shui Po districts which cover a small, but densely populated part of the Kowloon Peninsula. Biden will order masks on planes and trains, increase disaster funds to fight coronavirus

President Joe Biden will sign 10 executive orders on Thursday to fight the coronavirus pandemic, including directing that disaster funds be used to help reopen schools and requiring that people wear masks on planes and buses, officials said. Biden, a Democrat who took over from Republican President Donald Trump on Wednesday, has promised a fierce fight against the pandemic that killed 400,000 people in the United States under Trump's watch. Relatively spared by the coronavirus, Pakistanis drop their guard

Alongside the usual snacks arranged on a tray balanced on one hand, Momin Khan sells face masks to passengers at a crowded bus stand in Islamabad. Most choose the snacks instead of paying six cents for a mask, he says. "It’s mostly rich people buying the masks, the poor people say we don’t have the money anyway and we will do without them,” he told Reuters. U.S., staying in WHO, to join COVID vaccine push for poor nations: Fauci

The United States under President Joe Biden intends to join the COVAX vaccine facility that aims to deliver coronavirus vaccines to poor countries, his chief medical adviser, Anthony Fauci, told the World Health Organization (WHO) on Thursday. Fauci, speaking to the WHO executive board, confirmed that the United States would remain a member of the U.N. agency and said it would work multilaterally on issues from the COVID-19 pandemic to HIV/AIDS.