Health News Roundup: China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing - CCTV; Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths and more

The unusual ad campaign comes after a high-profile disagreement between government health agencies over who should have access to Biogen’s Aduhelm, the first treatment for the mind-wasting disease to be approved in 20 years. France to launch fourth COVID shot for over-80s, PM says France is to start offering a fourth COVID-19 vaccination shot to people over 80 years old who had their previous booster dose more than three months ago, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told daily Le Parisien in an interview published on Saturday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing - CCTV

China has granted approval to five COVID-19 antigen kits made by local companies to be used for self-testing, state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday, as it tweaks its testing regime that has been pressured by Omicron. China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published a notice on Friday saying Beijing Huaketai Biotechnology had been allowed to make changes to its COVID-19 antigen test kit's device certificate.

Hong Kong reports 32,430 COVID cases, 264 deaths

Hong Kong health authorities reported 32,430 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as the city's leader said her government was trying build capacity to deal with the crisis that has swept through care homes. Although Chief Executive Carrie Lam said government efforts were improving, she said they had yet to reach everybody in isolation to see whether people needed help.

South Korea reports record-high 383,665 new COVID-19 cases - KDCA

South Korea reported a new record daily high of 383,665 COVID-19 cases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Saturday, amid a surge of Omicron infections.

Exclusive-WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread

The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters. Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19. Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO.

U.S. FDA approves AstraZeneca-Merck's Lynparza to treat early-stage breast cancer

British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its cancer drug, jointly developed with U.S.-based Merck & Co, as a treatment for patients with early-stage breast cancer with certain mutations. AstraZeneca said on Friday the drug, Lynparza, was approved for patients with a form of genetically mutated high-risk early-stage breast cancer called BRCA-mutated HER2-negative, who have already been treated with chemotherapy either before or after surgery.

GeoVax vaccine targeting virus in two places shows promise; virus may become resistant to antibody drugs

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. Two vaccine targets on virus may be better than one

China's daily cases of symptomatic COVID more than triple

Mainland China reported 1,807 new local symptomatic COVID-19 cases on Sunday, the highest daily figure in two years and more than triple the caseload of the previous day, as surging infections in a northeastern province squeeze health resources. The number of domestically transmitted cases with confirmed symptoms reported for Saturday spiked from 476 the previous day, data from the National Health Commission showed on Sunday. The daily count included 114 people initially classified as asymptomatic who later developed symptoms.

Australia nears living with COVID like flu - PM Morrison

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the nation's political leaders want to move to a new phase of living with COVID-19 as though it were the flu, but would consult health experts. A day after meeting with the national cabinet of state and federal leaders, Morrison told reporters on Saturday morning they had discussed moving to "Phase D" of the national pandemic response plan.

Alzheimer's patient groups pressure U.S. to pay for Biogen drug

Patient groups are mounting a public pressure campaign aimed at persuading the U.S. government to loosen proposed restrictions on new Alzheimer's treatments, spending millions of dollars on television and local advertisements that began running during the Sunday morning political shows. The unusual ad campaign comes after a high-profile disagreement between government health agencies over who should have access to Biogen's Aduhelm, the first treatment for the mind-wasting disease to be approved in 20 years.

France to launch fourth COVID shot for over-80s, PM says

France is to start offering a fourth COVID-19 vaccination shot to people over 80 years old who had their previous booster dose more than three months ago, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told daily Le Parisien in an interview published on Saturday. The prime minister had said in January that France was ready to launch a campaign for fourth vaccine shots, or second booster, as soon as health authorities gave the green light.