Health News Roundup: Cocktail of flu, HIV drugs help fighting coronavirus; Hong Kong suspends four more border and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Brazil draws up plan to evacuate nationals from China's coronavirus epicenter

Brazil's government is drawing up a plan to evacuate Brazilian nationals from the Chinese province of Hubei, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, President Jair Bolsonaro said in a statement on Sunday. "Every Brazilian in the region who wants to return to Brazil will be brought back", the statement said, adding that those who do come back would be placed in quarantine for a period.

Cocktail of flu, HIV drugs appears to help fight coronavirus: Thai doctors

Thai doctors have seen success in treating severe cases of the new coronavirus with the combination of medications for flu and HIV, with initial results showing vast improvement 48 hours after applying the treatment, they said on Sunday. The doctors from Rajavithi Hospital in Bangkok said a new approach in coronavirus treatment had improved the condition of several patients under their care, including one 70-year-old Chinese woman from Wuhan who tested positive for the coronavirus for 10 days.

U.S. flight rules on China visits will pose new airline challenges

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) issued rules on Sunday to implement new restrictions on Americans who have recently visited China to address the threat of the coronavirus. Airline officials said Sunday the new rules will mean they must now ask all U.S.-bound passengers if they have visited mainland China. Airlines are expected to scrutinize passports of travelers and warned the new rules could require passengers to arrive even earlier for U.S.-bound flights.

U.S. universities set up front-line defenses to keep coronavirus at bay

On its sprawling campus in America's heartland, thousands of miles from China, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has taken aggressive steps to keep the fast-spreading coronavirus away from its classrooms and students. The school, with one of the highest percentages of Chinese students among U.S. universities, has suspended academic programs in China for the spring semester and banned students from traveling to the country for academic-related matters. It has advised faculty and staff to follow federal travel advisories that, as of Friday, warned against going to China.

China accuses the U.S. of scaremongering over coronavirus

Beijing on Monday accused the United States of spreading fear over a coronavirus outbreak by pulling nationals out and restricting travel instead of offering significant aid. The United States was the first nation to begin evacuations, issued a travel warning against going to China, and from Sunday barred entry to foreigners recently in China.

Trump says the U.S. has 'shut down' coronavirus threat; China shuns U.S. help

The United States has taken decisive action to protect Americans from the threat of a fast-moving coronavirus while offering help to China, President Donald Trump said on Sunday, but a key adviser said Beijing had not accepted the offers of assistance. Trump appeared to downplay concerns about the impact in the United States of the flu-like virus that has killed 350 people in China and spread to more than two dozen countries, telling Fox television in an interview, "We're gonna see what happens, but we did shut it down, yes.

" Hong Kong suspends four more border crossings to curb the spread of the virus

Hong Kong's leader announced the closure of four more border crossings with mainland China on Monday, leaving just three checkpoints open, but stopped short of demands for the entire border to be closed to curb the spread of the new coronavirus. Hong Kong has 15 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which emerged in central China in December and has killed more than 360 people there and sent jitters through global markets.

Advocacy group takes plant-based meat fight to Super Bowl in ad

An advocacy group backed by the food and restaurant industries took the heated plant-based meat fight to the Super Bowl on Sunday in an advertisement, as consumer hunger for red meat alternatives rages on. The advertisement, which ran only in the Washington DC market, was aimed at plant-based meat producers such as Impossible Foods Inc, maker of the plant-based Impossible Burger, and Beyond Meat Inc, by the Center for Consumer Freedom.

China virus toll rises as Chinese markets set to reopen after the holiday

The death toll from the new coronavirus in China's Hubei province rose by 56 to 350 on Monday, Chinese state television reported citing official figures, as investors braced for volatility when Chinese markets reopen after the Lunar New Year break. There were another 2,103 cases detected in Hubei, the epicenter of the outbreak, taking the total in the province to 11,177 as of Feb. 2, state television reported.

The U.S. confirms the 11th case of the new coronavirus

California health officials said on Sunday they had confirmed 11 cases of the new, fast-spreading coronavirus in the United States, with one in Santa Clara County and two more in San Benito County. In Santa Clara County, a woman and the family she is staying with are being quarantined and she is now in isolation at their home, Santa Clara County health officials told a news conference. The woman was not sick enough to require hospitalization, it added.