Health News Roundup: South Korea eases curfew on businesses outside Seoul; Mexico City families see some relief from pandemic with home visits and more

Mainland China reports 12 new COVID-19 cases vs 20 a day earlier Mainland China reported 12 new COVID-19 cases on Feb. 5, down from 20 cases a day earlier and the lowest daily increase since Dec. 17, the national health authority said on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Wuhan residents remember coronavirus 'whistleblower' doctor a year after his death

A year after his death from COVID-19, residents in the Chinese city of Wuhan say they remain grateful to the "whistleblower" doctor who first sounded the alarm about the outbreak before it received official recognition. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at a hospital in the city, became one of the most visible figures in the early days of the outbreak in Wuhan when he tried to sound the alarm about its appearance, but was reprimanded by police for "spreading rumours."

Mexico City families see some relief from pandemic with home visits

While the coronavirus pandemic tears through the sprawling Mexican capital, a team of public health workers going door-to-door in one of its poorest districts offers a glimmer of hope for hard-hit families. Some 30 traveling public health workers clad in protective gear including gloves and face-shields quiz locals on any symptoms they may have and offer testing as well as oxygen treatments for residents of Iztapalapa, home to some of the city's grittiest, most densely-packed neighborhoods.

South Korea eases curfew on businesses outside Seoul

South Korea on Saturday eased curfews on more than half a million restaurants and other businesses outside the capital Seoul, letting them stay open an hour later, amid a public backlash over tight curbs to contain COVID-19. After using aggressive testing and tracing to blunt several earlier waves of the coronavirus without drastic lockdowns, the authorities have imposed increasingly rigid social distancing rules as they fight the latest wave of the epidemic. Bulgaria to cull over 160,000 ducks after bird flu outbreak

Bulgaria will cull more than 160,000 ducks after an outbreak of bird flu on two duck farms, veterinary officials said on Saturday. The outbreak occurred at two farms of the same owner in the town of Slaviyanovo, where the disease was reported at a farm with more than 99,000 laying hens this week. 58.3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines distributed, 36.8 million administered: U.S. CDC

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it had administered 36,819,212 doses of COVID-19 vaccines in the country as of Friday morning and distributed 58,380,300 doses. The tally of vaccine doses are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Friday, the agency said. Germany's confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 10,485 - RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 10,485 to 2,275,394, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Saturday. The reported death toll rose by 689 to 61,286, the tally showed. Yankee Stadium makes debut as big-league vaccination hub

Friday was a different sort of Opening Day at Yankee Stadium, the legendary home of baseball's "Bronx Bombers," as New York ramped up its drive to vaccinate its most vulnerable residents, many who live in the hard-hit Bronx neighborhoods that surround the legendary sports venue. The stadium, which opened its doors as the city's newest COVID-19 vaccination hub, is the pride of the Bronx, the most recognizable landmark in the borough that has struggled with one of the highest death rates during the global coronavirus pandemic. The Bronx is predominantly Black and Hispanic, communities that have suffered higher infection and death rates. Mainland China reports 12 new COVID-19 cases vs 20 a day earlier

Mainland China reported 12 new COVID-19 cases on Feb. 5, down from 20 cases a day earlier and the lowest daily increase since Dec. 17, the national health authority said on Saturday. The National Health Commission, in a statement, said four of the new cases were locally transmitted, including three in the northeastern border province of Heilongjiang and one in neighbouring Jilin. The number of local transmissions was the lowest since Dec. 22. White House says it is working to speed early production of J&J COVID-19 vaccine

The Biden administration is exploring every option for increasing manufacturing of Johnson & Johnson's COVID-19 vaccine, which is under regulatory review, and said on Friday that currently expected levels of early doses were less than hoped. The White House has invoked the Defense Production Act to help Pfizer Inc ramp up COVID-19 vaccine production and that "every option" was on the table to produce more Johnson & Johnson vaccine should it be authorized. China approves Sinovac Biotech COVID-19 vaccine for general public use

Sinovac Biotech said on Saturday that its unit's COVID-19 vaccine has been approved for use by the general public by China's medical products regulator. It marks the second vaccine approved for public use in China, after one developed by a Beijing institute affiliated with state-owned China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm) was approved in December.