Health News Roundup: WHO says is sequencing Ebola virus to identify strain; New COVID-19 cases in U.S. fall for fifth week in a row and more

Cuomo said at a press conference that "lessons were learned' in not releasing the data and that things "should have been done differently." South Africa plans to share AstraZeneca shots via African Union South Africa plans to share the 1 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses it received from the Serum Institute of India with other African countries via the African Union (AU), a senior health official 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."

South Africa plans to share AstraZeneca shots via African Union

South Africa plans to share the 1 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses it received from the Serum Institute of India with other African countries via the African Union (AU), a senior health official said on Tuesday. The country paused the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine this month, after preliminary trial data showed it offered minimal protection against mild to moderate illness from the country's dominant coronavirus variant.

'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.

Dutch coronavirus curfew upheld temporarily after legal setback

Appellate judges ruled on Tuesday that a night-time curfew would remain in place in the Netherlands pending a government appeal of a lower-court ruling that found the measure lacked a legal basis. Prime Minister Mark Rutte's coronavirus policy was dealt a major blow earlier on Tuesday when a district court in The Hague said his government had failed to make clear why it was necessary to use emergency powers at this stage of the pandemic.

U.S. administers 55.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines - CDC

The United States has administered 55,220,364 doses of COVID-19 vaccines as of Tuesday morning and delivered 71,657,975 doses, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The tally of vaccine doses are for both Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech, vaccines as of 6:00 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the agency said.

New COVID-19 cases in U.S. fall for fifth week in a row

The United States last week reported a 23% drop in new cases of COVID-19 and a 16% fall in the number of people hospitalized with the virus, with both figures declining for a fifth week in a row. The progress against the virus, however, is threatened by several new variants, experts said, adding that face masks and social distancing measures were still very much needed.

Moderna says U.S. supply of its vaccine doses have lagged recently

Moderna Inc said on Tuesday the release of some of its COVID-19 vaccine doses to the U.S. government have lagged recently because of "short-term delays" in the final stages of production at its contractor Catalent Inc. The delays are expected to be resolved soon and will not impact monthly delivery targets, the company said, adding it was aiming to deliver 300 million doses by the end of July, instead of September end.

UK could give two doses of COVID vaccine to all adults by September, task force says

The United Kingdom could give two doses of COVID-19 vaccine to all adults by August or September, helped by its portfolio approach of buying from several different producers, the interim head of the country's vaccine taskforce told Sky News on Tuesday. Britain has vaccinated 15.6 million people with a first dose and 546,165 with a second dose, the fastest roll-out per capita of any large country so far.

'We are like captives': life in Britain's quarantine hotels

Mohamed Noor faces 10 days in COVID-19 quarantine in a hotel room near London's Heathrow Airport after falling foul of new border controls because of a flight delay. "I don't have a book. I don't have a Koran. I don't have nothing here," Noor, a 55-year-old Muslim, said by phone after his arrival on Monday, a day later than planned, landed him with a 1,750-pound ($2,400) bill.