Health News Roundup: China reports 7,691 new COVID cases for Nov 7 vs 5,643 a day earlier; Uganda shortens school term by two weeks to curb Ebola and more

That is compared with 5,643 new cases a day earlier – 569 symptomatic and 5,074 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately. Some in White House worry abortion message bungled before midterms Some senior White House officials have been second-guessing their messaging to voters around abortion in recent weeks, sources familiar with the matter said, as forecasts turned in Republicans' favor in the run up to the midterm elections.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Lawsuit claiming Skittles are unfit to eat is dismissed

A California man who claimed Skittles are "unfit for human consumption" because they contained a known toxin has dismissed his federal lawsuit against Mars Inc, the candy maker.

Jenile Thames voluntarily dismissed his case on Monday, according to a filing by his lawyers in Oakland, California.

China reports 7,691 new COVID cases for Nov 7 vs 5,643 a day earlier

China reported 7,691 new COVID-19 infections on Nov. 7, of which 890 were symptomatic and 6,801 were asymptomatic, the National Health Commission said on Tuesday. That is compared with 5,643 new cases a day earlier – 569 symptomatic and 5,074 asymptomatic infections, which China counts separately.

Some in White House worry abortion message bungled before midterms

Some senior White House officials have been second-guessing their messaging to voters around abortion in recent weeks, sources familiar with the matter said, as forecasts turned in Republicans' favor in the run up to the midterm elections. Many Democrats are no longer optimistic about retaining one or both houses of Congress in Tuesday's midterms, and some have asked if party leaders and the Joe Biden White House should have spent more time talking about the U.S. economy, and less about women's reproductive rights.

Uganda shortens school term by two weeks to curb Ebola

Uganda will shorten the school term by two weeks to reduce daily contact amongst students and help curb the spread of Ebola, the education minister said on Tuesday. Authorities have been struggling to contain the highly infectious and deadly haemorrhagic fever since the epidemic spilled into the capital Kampala, home to around two million people.

Novavax says Omicron shot shows strong immune response as second booster

Vaccine maker Novavax Inc said on Tuesday its COVID-19 shot retooled against the Omicron BA.1 variant showed a strong immune response as the fourth dose and met the main goal of strain change in a late-stage study. Data showed the shot, NVX-CoV2515, produced 1.6 times the amount of neutralizing antibodies in people who had previously not been exposed to COVID-19 compared to Novavax's original coronavirus vaccine.

China's COVID epicentre shifts to Guangzhou as outbreaks widen

New coronavirus cases surged in Guangzhou and other Chinese cities, official data showed on Tuesday, with the global manufacturing hub becoming China's latest COVID-19 epicentre and testing the city's ability to avoid a Shanghai-style lockdown. Nationwide, new locally transmitted infections climbed to 7,475 on Nov. 7, according to China's health authority, up from 5,496 the day before and the highest since May 1. Guangzhou accounted for nearly a third of the new infections.

FDA staff flags uncertainties on Veru's COVID drug; EUA hopes lift shares

Staff reviewers at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday identified several uncertainties around Veru Inc's data for its experimental COVID-19 drug but did not raise any new concerns, sending its shares surging 52%. The reviewers also did not offer any strong argument against the emergency use authorization (EUA) even as they flagged the small size of the trial that showed the drug reduced death rates, analysts said.

Malawi gets 2.9 million cholera vaccine doses as outbreak spreads

Malawi has received 2.9 million doses of oral cholera vaccine as an outbreak continues to spread across the country, the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF said on Monday. The vaccine consignment comes as the death toll from the outbreak that started in March rose to 207, Malawi health ministry figures showed.

New Mexico city passes ordinance to block abortion clinics from operating

A New Mexico town near the Texas border on Monday unanimously passed an ordinance designed to ban abortions, despite the procedure being legal in the state. The so-called "sanctuary city for the unborn" ordinance blocks abortion clinics from operating and its passage by the Hobbs city commission marks a first for a town in a state controlled by the Democratic Party, according to anti-abortion advocates. Hobbs does not have an abortion clinic, but could be a place for such a clinic that could serve people from Republican-controlled Texas, to the east. Whole Woman's Health, one of the largest providers of abortions in the United States, has told Reuters it was interested in opening a clinic in Hobbs or nearby Clovis.

U.S. Supreme Court rejects Bristol Myers cancer-drug patent fight with Gilead

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rebuffed a bid by Bristol Myers Squibb Co's Juno Therapeutics Inc to reinstate a $1.2 billion award it won in its patent fight with Gilead Sciences Inc subsidiary Kite Pharma Inc over a lymphoma drug. The justices turned away Juno's appeal of a lower court's ruling throwing out the award in the litigation over Kite's biologic drug Yescarta, in a case that could have repercussions for the cutting-edge biologic drug industry.

(With inputs from agencies.)