Health News Roundup: China confirms the spread of the new virus; Supreme Court to hear Trump appeal and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China confirms the spread of the new virus as cases surge

An outbreak of a new coronavirus in China has spread to more cities, Chinese authorities said on Monday, as the number of patients tripled and a third person died, stoking concerns about containment of the illness. The Daxing health commission in the capital Beijing said it had confirmed two cases of coronavirus, while the southern Guangdong province's health commission confirmed one case in Shenzhen. They mark the first cases in China beyond the central city of Wuhan where the virus first emerged.

Supreme Court to hear Trump appeal in Obamacare contraception fight

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday took up an appeal by President Donald Trump's administration seeking to enforce new federal rules allowing employers to obtain religious exemptions from an Obamacare requirement that health insurance that they provide to employees pays for women's birth control. At issue is a challenge by the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the administration's 2018 rule that permits broad religious and moral exemptions to the Affordable Care Act's contraception mandate and expands accommodations already allowed under the 2010 law dubbed Obamacare. The administration has asked the Supreme Court to reverse a nationwide injunction issued by a lower court blocking the rule from taking effect. China agriculture minister urges authorities to prevent recurrence of African swine fever

China's agriculture minister urged authorities to prevent a recurrence in African swine fever outbreaks, according to a statement on the ministry's website on Monday. Relevant departments must work to achieve this year's pig production recovery goal, said Han Changfu, minister of agriculture and rural affairs.

China reports new H5N6 bird flu case in the Xinjiang region

China's agriculture ministry said on Monday it had detected the highly pathogenic H5N6 strain of avian flu in swans in its western Xinjiang region. The case is the third month of the strain in swans in Xinjiang.

Masks on, Chinese start holiday travels as alarm mounts over mystery virus

Bundled up in winter clothes as they head home for the Lunar New Year holiday amid a health scare over a mysterious new virus, Chinese travelers on the teeming concourse of Beijing West station were evenly split between the masked and the barefaced. Covering up was clearly the best decision for many of the passengers waiting to board the packed train carriages for the 5-1/2 hour journey to Wuhan, the epicenter of an outbreak that has sent shivers through the world's most populous country.