Health News Roundup: Dengue suspected of killing dozens as Indian state suffers worst outbreak in years; Factbox - Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus and more

Earlier diagnosis of cancers leads to dramatically increased survival rates. India worried about complacency over second dose of COVID-19 vaccine - sources India is worried that growing complacency as COVID-19 infection rates and deaths decline could lead to people skipping their second vaccine shots, leaving communities vulnerable to the coronavirus, said two health experts briefed on the matter.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Dengue suspected of killing dozens as Indian state suffers worst outbreak in years

An outbreak of dengue fever is suspected of killing dozens of people in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh since the start of September, and authorities have launched a campaign to destroy mosquito breeding grounds. Dinesh Kumar Premi, the chief medical officer in Firozabad, the most affected district in the state, told Reuters that 58 people, many of them children, had died in his district alone, raising fears that Uttar Pradesh is in the midst of its worst dengue outbreak in years.

Factbox - Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Vietnam's coronavirus outbreak epicenter Ho Chi Minh City will extend its restrictions, state media reported, as Hanoi and several provinces sought an easing of curbs and the aviation authority proposed domestic flights resume. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

Chinese city imposes travel curbs, closes public venues in new COVID-19 outbreak

A city in China's southeastern province of Fujian has closed cinemas and gyms, sealed off some entries and exits to highways and told residents not to leave town as it battles a local COVID-19 outbreak. The virus situation in the city of Putian is "serious and complex" and it is very likely more new cases will emerge in communities, schools and factories, state broadcaster CCTV said on Monday.

Everest to bring Canadian biotech's potential COVID shots to China, other markets

Shanghai-based Everest Medicines said it signed a licence agreement with Providence Therapeutics to make and sell the Canadian biotechnology company's potential mRNA COVID vaccines in some Asian countries including China. Interim data from an early-stage human trial outside China has showed Providence's shot PTX-COVID19-B was safe and produced strong antibody responses, Everest said in a statement on Monday.

Seriously ill COVID-19 patients double in vaccine pace-setter Singapore

The rapid pace of new COVID-19 infections and a doubling of seriously ill patients in Singapore have raised unexpected hurdles to reopening plans for the vaccination frontrunner, where 81% of the population is fully vaccinated. Singapore, one of the fastest in the world to reach that level, has seen its inoculation rates plateau, and this month paused its gradual reopening plans, spooked by daily infections that returned to one-year peaks this month.

Biden to announce new COVID-19 steps ahead of U.N. meeting, surgeon general says

U.S. President Joe Biden will announce new steps to slow the spread of COVID-19 before the U.N. General Assembly meets, Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said Sunday. Murthy did not specify what those steps would be. The next session of the General Assembly opens Tuesday; the first day of general debate will be the following week.

New Zealand keeps Auckland in strict lockdown to beat Delta

New Zealand extended a strict lockdown in its largest city on Monday, requiring 1.7 million people living in Auckland to remain indoors for at least another week to snuff out small outbreaks of the highly infectious Delta variant of coronavirus.

Health authorities recorded 33 new cases of the Delta variant of COVID-19 on Monday, all in Auckland, which was higher than 23 and 20 cases reported over the weekend.

Britain begins world's largest trial of blood test for 50 types of cancer

Britain's state-run National Health Service will on Monday begin the world's biggest trial of Grail Inc's flagship Galleri blood test that can be used to detect more than 50 types of cancer before symptoms appear. The Galleri test looks at the DNA in a patient's blood to determine if any come from cancer cells. Earlier diagnosis of cancers leads to dramatically increased survival rates.

India worried about complacency over second dose of COVID-19 vaccine - sources

India is worried that growing complacency as COVID-19 infection rates and deaths decline could lead to people skipping their second vaccine shots, leaving communities vulnerable to the coronavirus, said two health experts briefed on the matter. India has administered more than 744 million vaccine doses - with 60% of its 944 million adults getting a first shot and 19% fully vaccinated with the required two shots.

Slovenia tightens access to indoor spaces due to COVID-19

Slovenia will, from this week, require that all people who enter indoor spaces, with few exceptions, be vaccinated against COVID-19 or show negative tests unless they have had the disease in the previous six months, the government said on Monday. "If you go to a food and beverages store or a pharmacy, you will not need to meet those requirements only if such a store is not within a shopping center," Slovenian national television quoted the state secretary in the ministry for economic development and technology Simon Zajc as saying.