Health News Roundup: Australia to extend COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria amid Delta outbreak; S.Korea military suffers worst COVID-19 outbreak aboard anti-piracy ship off Africa and more

On what local media have dubbed "Freedom Day", Johnson's decision to lift regulations in favour of restarting an economy damaged by a series of on-off lockdowns since March 2020 marks a new chapter in the global response to the coronavirus. Singapore advises unvaccinated people to stay home as cases rise Singapore's health ministry on Sunday "strongly" advised unvaccinated individuals, especially the elderly, to stay home as much as possible over the next few weeks, citing heightened concerns about the risk of community spread of COVID-19.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Australia to extend COVID-19 lockdown in Victoria amid Delta outbreak

Australian authorities on Monday said Victoria state will extend a COVID-19 lockdown beyond Tuesday despite a slight drop in new infections as the country's two biggest cities fight to stop the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said lockdown rules would not be lifted as cases were still being detected in the community, promising more details would be provided on Tuesday.

S.Korea military suffers worst COVID-19 outbreak aboard anti-piracy ship off Africa

South Korea's military has recorded in the biggest cluster of COVID-19 infections to date, with more than 80% of personnel aboard a destroyer on anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden testing positive. While the 247 cases are not directly linked to new domestic infections, with the destroyer having left South Korea to start its mission in February, the surge comes as the country battles its worst-ever outbreak of COVID-19 cases at home, with another 1,252 new infections reported for Sunday.

Indonesian soup kitchen brings food to COVID-19 patients stuck at home

As coronavirus surges in the Indonesian capital, volunteers like Badi Mulyaman are pitching in to help, delivering food to people who have tested positive but are forced to quarantine at home as hospitals run short of beds. The 27-year-old driver of a three-wheeler, Badi drops off the packages in front of patients' homes, calling out that their food has arrived, and made small talk from a distance.

Facebook says it should not be blamed for U.S. failing to meet vaccine goals

Facebook on Saturday defended itself against U.S. President Joe Biden's assertion that the social media platform is "killing people" by allowing misinformation about coronavirus vaccines to proliferate, saying the facts tell a different story. "The data shows that 85% of Facebook users in the US have been or want to be vaccinated against COVID-19," Facebook said in a corporate blog post by Guy Rosen, a company vice president. "President Biden’s goal was for 70% of Americans to be vaccinated by July 4. Facebook is not the reason this goal was missed."

PM Johnson pleads for caution as 'Freedom Day' arrives in England

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ends more than a year of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in England on Monday, urging the public to remain cautious but putting his faith in vaccines to protect the country even as infections are surging. On what local media have dubbed "Freedom Day", Johnson's decision to lift regulations in favor of restarting an economy damaged by a series of on-off lockdowns since March 2020 marks a new chapter in the global response to the coronavirus.

Singapore advises unvaccinated people to stay home as cases rise

Singapore's health ministry on Sunday "strongly" advised unvaccinated individuals, especially the elderly, to stay home as much as possible over the next few weeks, citing heightened concerns about the risk of community spread of COVID-19. The country reported 88 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases on Sunday, the highest daily toll since August last year, driven by growing clusters of infections linked to karaoke bars and a fishery port.

COVID deaths dip in Italy, but cases climb, lifted by soccer parties

Italy reported just three coronavirus-related deaths on Sunday against 13 the day before, the lowest toll since last August, however, the daily tally of new infections edged up to 3,127 from 3,121. Sundays normally see a fall in cases because only limited testing is done at weekends, so although the rise in infections was minimal it still represented a sixth consecutive daily increase, underscoring concerns of a fresh wave of contagion.

Exclusive: J&J exploring putting talc liabilities into bankruptcy, sources say

Johnson & Johnson is exploring a plan to offload liabilities from widespread Baby Powder litigation into a newly created business that would then seek bankruptcy protection, according to seven people familiar with the matter. During settlement discussions, one of the healthcare conglomerate’s attorneys has told plaintiffs’ lawyers that J&J could pursue the bankruptcy plan, which could result in lower payouts for cases that do not settle beforehand, some of the people said. Plaintiffs’ lawyers would initially be unable to stop J&J from taking such a step, though could pursue legal avenues to challenge it later.

U.S. surgeon general defends CDC mask change, blames tech companies for COVID deaths

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy stood by federal guidance that those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 no longer needed to wear masks while blaming social media companies for fueling vaccine misinformation. Murthy told CNN's "State of the Union" that allowing vaccinated individuals to forgo masks also gives communities the flexibility to revert to mask mandates based on new infections and vaccination rates, as Los Angeles https://www.reuters.com/world/us/mask-mandate-returns-los-angeles-coronavirus-cases-rise-2021-07-15 has done.

India reports 38,164 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours

India reported Monday 38,164 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, data from the health ministry showed, with deaths rising by 499, the lowest in over three months.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)