Health News Roundup: China reports 999 new COVID cases for Sept 25 vs 936 a day earlier; Prominent Chinese commentator urges COVID experts to 'speak out' and more

Rapid assessment testing confirmed 338 cases since the outbreak was first recorded last month, with the bulk of deaths and cases in the northern Aleppo province, the ministry said in a statement. Valneva in talks with potential partner on second-gen COVID-19 vaccines French drugmaker Valneva said on Monday it is in talks with a potential partner on producing an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine that targets new variants of the disease, sending its shares up.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China reports 999 new COVID cases for Sept 25 vs 936 a day earlier

China reported 999 new COVID-19 infections on Sept. 25, of which 295 were symptomatic and 704 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Monday. That is compared with 936 new cases a day earlier – 217 symptomatic and 719 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

Prominent Chinese commentator urges COVID experts to 'speak out'

Prominent Chinese commentator Hu Xijin said on Sunday that as China ponders its COVID-19 policies, epidemic experts need to speak out and China ought to conduct comprehensive research and make any studies transparent to the public. Hu's unusual call on Chinese social media for candour and transparency earned him 34,000 likes on the popular Twitter-like microblog Weibo, as well as frank responses from netizens in a normally tightly policed internet quick to censor voices deemed a risk to social stability.

Pfizer CEO tests positive for COVID for a second time

Pfizer Inc Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla said on Saturday he had tested positive for COVID-19. "I’m feeling well and symptom free," Bourla said in a statement.

Syria cholera death toll rises to 29 - health ministry

A cholera outbreak in several regions of Syria has killed 29 people, the Syrian health ministry said on Monday in what the U.N. has called the worst outbreak in the war-torn country for years. Rapid assessment testing confirmed 338 cases since the outbreak was first recorded last month, with the bulk of deaths and cases in the northern Aleppo province, the ministry said in a statement.

Valneva in talks with potential partner on second-gen COVID-19 vaccines

French drugmaker Valneva said on Monday it is in talks with a potential partner on producing an updated version of its COVID-19 vaccine that targets new variants of the disease, sending its shares up. The French company has struggled to bring its COVID-19 vaccine to market to compete with rival products from drugmakers such as AstraZeneca, Moderna and BioNTech/Pfizer. Its shares have lost almost 80% since peaking at the end of 2021.

Here to stay? China's cityscapes are transformed by thousands of COVID test booths

A thousand days since the World Health Organization (WHO) was told of a "viral pneumonia" in central China, many countries have returned to pre-COVID-19 life. Not so in China itself - in cities big or small, routine PCR testing is the new normal. On Dec. 31, 2019, the WHO's office in China was informed of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei province. Since then, the virus that is now known as SARS-CoV-2 has evolved into the less virulent Omicron variant, and most of the world has moved on.

Pfizer/BioNTech seek FDA nod for new COVID boosters for children

Pfizer Inc and its German partner BioNTech on Monday sought the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's authorization for an Omicron-tailored COVID-19 vaccine booster for children aged 5 through 11 years. The application comes just days after Moderna also applied for FDA authorization of its own Omicron-targeting shot in adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and children aged six to 11.