Health News Roundup: Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread; Romania's COVID cases nearly double in a week and more

China continues to demand local authorities detect and contain new infections as soon as possible in its "dynamic COVID zero" strategy, although it has warned against expanding strict curbs unnecessarily as it struggles to revive the economy. Swine fever outbreak in Germany's top pork state poses lasting threat The spread of African Swine Fever to Germany's most important pig rearing region has dealt a serious blow to the sector with major markets such as China likely to maintain import bans for years to come, analysts said on Monday.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread

Macau reported 89 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to more than 900 infections since mid-June, as authorities in the world's biggest gambling hub race to contain its largest outbreak since the pandemic began. More than 13,000 people are under quarantine in the Chinese special administrative region, which has effectively shut down to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Romania's COVID cases nearly double in a week

The number of new COVID-19 infections in Romania nearly doubled over the last week, with a peak of 10,000 daily cases expected in mid-August, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Monday. Romania is the European Union's second-least vaccinated state, with just over 42% of the population fully inoculated amid distrust of state institutions and poor vaccine education.

Several eastern Chinese areas are in mass COVID testing to curb new waves of infections

Parts of eastern China are running fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing, as the country faces new waves of infections while recovering from the impact of the spring outbreaks that hit Beijing and Shanghai. China continues to demand local authorities detect and contain new infections as soon as possible in its "dynamic COVID zero" strategy, although it has warned against expanding strict curbs unnecessarily as it struggles to revive the economy.

The swine fever outbreak in Germany's top pork state poses a lasting threat

The spread of African Swine Fever to Germany's most important pig rearing region has dealt a serious blow to the sector with major markets such as China likely to maintain import bans for years to come, analysts said on Monday. The outbreak on a farm in Emsland, Lower Saxony is the first in the northwest region where much of Germany's pig sector is concentrated.

U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case

Major U.S. drug distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp, and Cardinal Health Inc are not responsible for fueling an opioid epidemic in a part of West Virginia, a federal judge ruled on Monday. U.S. District Judge David Faber rejected efforts by the city of Huntington and Cabell County to force the country's three largest pharmaceutical distributors to pay $2.5 billion to address a drug crisis prompted by a flood of addictive pills in their region.

Hong Kong considers shorter COVID quarantine for travelers -Lee

Hong Kong will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travelers, while still aiming to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the city's new leader John Lee said on Tuesday. Lee spoke at his first weekly news conference as the city's chief executive after being sworn in on Friday by China's President Xi Jinping following celebrations marking 25 years since the former British colony's return to Chinese rule.

Exclusive-Wuxi Biologics takes step to getting off U.S. 'unverified' trade list

Wuxi Biologics, a Chinese company that makes ingredients for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, maybe a step closer to being taken off a U.S. trade list that it landed on five months ago, wiping HK$77 billion($9.9 billion) off its market value. Chinese authorities allowed a U.S. export control officer to conduct inspections of at least one company in the city of Wuxi last week, a U.S. Commerce Department official said.

Sanofi launches global health brand with non-profit treatments

French drugmaker Sanofi will make 30 of its treatments, including insulin, available on a not-for-profit basis in 40 lower-income countries in the first step of its plan to increase access to its medicines worldwide. The treatments will be provided under the new Impact brand, part of Sanofi's global health unit launched last year, which sits outside the commercial business.

The German health minister in a move to boost the use of COVID treatment Paxlovid

Germany's health minister said on Sunday he will push for more prescriptions of Pfizer's oral COVID-19 antiviral treatment Paxlovid by family doctors to reduce severe cases of the disease. "A system involving family doctors will be prepared to administer this far too rarely-used COVID life saver more routinely," he wrote https://twitter.com/Karl_Lauterbach/status/1543582226788634624 on Twitter on Sunday, adding that sufficient stockpiles were available.