Reuters Health News Summary

WHO says is sequencing Ebola virus to identify strain The World Health Organization is starting gene sequencing of Ebola samples from both Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea to learn more about origins of new outbreaks and identify the strains, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Cuomo acknowledges withholding New York nursing home pandemic death toll from lawmakers, public

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged on Monday that his office should not have withheld data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths from state lawmakers, the public and press - falling short of an apology a senior aide made to lawmakers last week. Cuomo said at a press conference that "lessons were learned' in not releasing the data and that things "should have been done differently." 'Hard to bring tears out:' Stunned by pandemic, some Americans struggle to grieve

Fiana Tulip lost her mother to COVID-19 on the Fourth of July. Like so many others, she was not able to see her or say goodbye. For Tulip, 41, that was the only beginning of an avalanche of personal and financial loss and hardship brought on by a pandemic that has now claimed the lives of nearly half a million people in the United States alone. The heavy emotional toll was just too much to process, short-circuiting her ability to grieve. WHO says is sequencing Ebola virus to identify strain

The World Health Organization is starting gene sequencing of Ebola samples from both Democratic Republic of Congo and Guinea to learn more about origins of new outbreaks and identify the strains, a spokeswoman said on Tuesday. Margaret Harris also told a Geneva briefing that health authorities had identified close to 300 Ebola contacts in the Congo outbreak and around 109 in the Guinea one. Airport robots give hi-tech boost to Kenya's COVID-19 fight

Jasiri, Shujaa and Tumaini only landed in Kenya just over two weeks ago, but they're already playing an important role in curbing the spread of the country's coronavirus epidemic. The three glossy white robots, made in China and donated by Japan and the United Nations Development Programme, have been put to work at Nairobi's main international airport, keeping it disinfected and monitoring arrivals for signs of the virus. North Korean hackers tried to steal Pfizer vaccine know-how, lawmaker says

South Korea's intelligence agency has said North Korea attempted to steal information on coronavirus vaccines and treatments by hacking Pfizer Inc, a lawmaker briefed by the agency said on Tuesday. Digital espionage targeting health bodies, vaccine scientists and drugmakers has surged during the COVID-19 pandemic as state-backed hacking groups scramble to secure the latest research and information about the outbreak. Germany plans to offer free rapid coronavirus tests from March 1

Germany plans to offer all citizens rapid coronavirus tests free of charge from March 1, its health minister said on Tuesday. Jens Spahn said rapid antigen tests were now sufficiently available on the market to enable local test centres and pharmacies to offer the tests for free. India detects South African, Brazilian COVID variants

India has detected both the South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants and people returning from those countries may be tested more aggressively, health officials said on Tuesday. The South African variant was detected in four people last month and the Brazilian one in one person this month, they said, adding that the strains can more easily infect a person's lungs than the UK mutation. Bristol-Myers, Sanofi ordered to pay Hawaii $834 million over Plavix warning label

A judge in Hawaii on Monday ordered Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and Sanofi SA to pay more than $834 million to the state for failing to warn non-white patients properly of health risks from its blood thinner Plavix. Judge Dean Ochiai in Honolulu concluded the companies engaged in unfair and deceptive business practices from 1998 to 2010 by failing to change the drug's label to warn doctors and patients despite knowing some of the risks. Japan to start inoculation drive Wednesday amid shortage of special syringes

Japan will kick off its COVID-19 vaccination programme on Wednesday amid concerns that a shortage of special syringes could lead to the waste of millions of doses of Pfizer vaccine as the country grapples with its third and most serious wave of infections. Japan's vaccination programme chief Taro Kono announced the launch of the programme at a news conference on Tuesday after the government officially approved Pfizer Inc's COVID-19 vaccine on Sunday, the first such approval in Japan. A year of living with COVID - an Italian family's photo album

A year ago, Marzio Toniolo led a simple life as a primary school teacher, husband and father in the small northern Italian town of San Fiorano. Then San Fiorano and a cluster of other towns became the first "red zone" outside China to be put under lockdown after Italy diagnosed its first case of the coronavirus on Feb. 21.