Health News Roundup: More sleep at night might reduce daytime injury risk; WHO says no time for complacency and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

More sleep at night might reduce daytime injury risk

Healthy adults who get at least eight hours of sleep a night may be less likely to experience common exercise-related injuries like fractures, sprains and muscle strains, a study of U.S. soldiers suggests. Based on survey data for 7,576 men and women in the Army's Special Operations Forces, soldiers who got no more than four or five hours of sleep a night were more than twice as likely to report a musculoskeletal injury in the past 12 months as those who slept eight hours or longer.

Hong Kongers set up face mask factory amid coronavirus panic buying

Responding to shortages of face masks amid a frightening coronavirus epidemic spreading from the mainland, a group of citizens in Hong Kong have set up a surgical face mask factory to ease supplies and deter price gouging in some stores. After Hong Kong reported its first case of the virus last month, panicky residents queued at dawn, waiting for pharmacies to open to buy masks and sanitary wipes.

Jail cases add to China coronavirus tally as SKorea infections double

The new coronavirus has infected about 500 people in China's prisons, almost half outside the province at the center of the epidemic, authorities said on Friday, while South Korea reported 100 new cases that doubled its infections. The overall increase in new cases in China was relatively small, but changes in how it defines them have raised questions about the accuracy of its daily tallies - and the 234 infections among prisoners outside Hubei ended 16 straight days of declines in new mainland cases excluding that province.

Amid Japan coronavirus fears, hundreds leave quarantined ship, Tokyo scraps public events

Hundreds of Japanese and foreign passengers were set to disembark from a coronavirus-hit cruise ship near Tokyo on Friday amid growing disquiet in Japan about whether the government was doing enough to stop the virus spreading. The departure of more than 400 passengers from the Diamond Princess after weeks in quarantine comes as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a low-level travel advisory for Japan. In a bid to contain the virus, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said it would either cancel or postpone major indoor events it has sponsored for the next three weeks.

Could warmer weather help contain the coronavirus?

Public health officials, businesses and financial markets are looking for signs of whether the arrival of warmer weather in the northern hemisphere might slow the spread of the new coronavirus COVID-19 epidemic. Here's what we know about seasonal features of disease outbreaks.

DO WE KNOW WHETHER THE NEW CORONAVIRUS IS "SEASONAL"?

Super-spreaders: What are they and what do they do?

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has described an outbreak of coronavirus infections linked to a church in the city of Daegu as a "super-spreading event". But experts, including the WHO, say the term is poorly defined.

WHAT IS "SUPER-SPREADING"? The virus shows the plight of China's overstretched doctors

The coronavirus epidemic has shined a spotlight on another simmering crisis in China's healthcare system: a critical shortage of doctors. Rising demand for health care has far outpaced the increase in the supply of doctors. Between 2005 and 2018, the number of fully licensed doctors nearly doubled, but the number of hospital admissions nearly quadrupled, according to Chinese government data. The result is a vicious cycle, doctors and industry consultants say.

'Traumatized' Africans stranded by coronavirus plead to be brought home

When Margaret Ntale Namusisi's three daughters called her in Uganda to say they were being quarantined at their university in Wuhan, China, because of the coronavirus outbreak, she sent money and told them: "Run very fast and do shopping." Valeria, Veronica, and Vivian did just that. But nearly one month on, with no help from their government, they are now under lockdown in a crowded apartment with orders to stay indoors with the windows closed. Food, funds, and morale are running low.

WHO says no time for complacency as China coronavirus cases fall

A continued decline in the number of new cases of coronavirus infections in China is encouraging, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday while warning that infections outside the country could still spread. "We are encouraged by this trend but this is no time for complacency," the WHO's director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, told a briefing in Geneva.

Masked against coronavirus, Shanghai's ballet dancers pirouette and plie

Ten ballet dancers train at a barre, straightening their lithe limbs and standing on their toes to the accompaniment of a classical pianist. This could be any regular day at the Shanghai Ballet Company - one of China's top troupes, founded in 1979 - except that everyone in the room is wearing a mask due to the coronavirus.