Health News Roundup: Thailand reports record 23,557 new coronavirus cases; Lethal bird flu hits Delaware poultry farm with 1.2 million birds -state and more

Overall, as the pandemic took hold, the number of maternal deaths rose 14% to 861 in 2020 from 754 in 2019, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics. COVID raises risk of mental health problems; new Omicron version not making people sicker in S.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Thailand reports record 23,557 new coronavirus cases

Thailand reported on Thursday a record daily increase of 23,557 new coronavirus infections, as the country deals with an outbreak driven by the Omicron variant. The Southeast Asian country also reported 38 new deaths, according to the country's COVID-19 centre.

Lethal bird flu hits Delaware poultry farm with 1.2 million birds -state

A commercial poultry farm in Delaware with 1.2 million birds has been hit by a highly lethal form of bird flu, the state said on Wednesday, significantly expanding an outbreak that has killed U.S. chickens and turkeys. The outbreak brings the total number of commercial U.S. poultry birds affected by the disease to about 1.65 million over the past two weeks.

COVID surges in New Zealand, protesters against mandates chase away Ardern

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was rushed out of a school event in Christchurch on Thursday after protesters opposed to COVID restrictive measures thronged the venue and chased her car, while daily infection numbers hit record levels.

New Zealand reported over 6,000 new cases of COVID-19, with 250 hospitalizations, and the government expects the outbreak to peak in mid-March.

Sanofi, GSK to seek approval for COVID vaccine candidate

French drugmaker Sanofi and its British partner GlaxoSmithKline are seeking regulatory approval for their COVID-19 vaccine to be used as a booster, as well as a standalone two-dose shot, after several setbacks. The companies said on Wednesday they intended to submit data to regulators from a late-stage trial of the vaccine, and another testing it as a booster, with full results for both studies expected to be published "later this year."

COVID vaccine supply for global programme outstrips demand for first time

The global project to share COVID-19 vaccines is struggling to place more than 300 million doses in the latest sign the problem with vaccinating the world is now more about demand than supply. Last year, wealthy nations snapped most of the available shots to inoculate their own citizens first, meaning less than a third of people in low-income countries have been vaccinated so far compared with more than 70% in richer nations.

WHO announces 2nd hub for training countries to make COVID vaccines

The World Health Organization said on Wednesday it has set up a hub in South Korea to train low- and middle-income countries to produce their own vaccines and therapies and is expanding its COVID-19 vaccine project to a further five nations. The new training hub comes after the U.N. agency set up a technology transfer hub in Cape Town, South Africa, last year to give companies from poor and middle-income countries the know-how to produce COVID-19 vaccines based on mRNA technology.

U.S. FDA limits use of GlaxoSmithKline-Vir COVID-19 drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotech's COVID-19 antibody treatment should not be used in places with circulation of variants that are not susceptible to the drug. Vir has said the drug, sotrovimab, retains neutralizing activity against the emerging BA.2 form of the Omicron coronavirus variant.

COVID-19 shot interval can be extended to 8 weeks for some -U.S. CDC

Extending the interval between the first two doses of the most widely used COVID-19 vaccines in the country to eight weeks for young men can reduce the rare risk of heart inflammation, U.S. health officials said. The side effect, which has been linked to both Pfizer and Moderna's COVID-19 vaccines, is higher in 12- to 39-year-old men, and therefore the eight-week interval could be optimal for some people aged 12 years and older, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said on Tuesday.

U.S. pregnancy deaths show outsized toll on Black women in pandemic's first year - report

Black women in the United States were nearly three times as likely to die during or shortly after pregnancy over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic than white women, according to a government report published on Wednesday. Overall, as the pandemic took hold, the number of maternal deaths rose 14% to 861 in 2020 from 754 in 2019, according to the report from the National Center for Health Statistics.

COVID raises risk of mental health problems; new Omicron version not making people sicker in S. Africa

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Coronavirus infection raises risk of mental health issues

(With inputs from agencies.)