Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Global downturn looms as countries struggle to contain coronavirus outbreak

The coronavirus spread further on Friday, with cases reported for the first time in at least six countries across four continents, battering markets and leading the World Health Organization (WHO) to raise its impact risk alert to "very high." Hopes that the epidemic that started in China late last year would be over in months, and that economic activity would quickly return to normal, have been shattered. As coronavirus slams Italy, paralysis and anxiety spread

At the epicenter of Europe's worst outbreak of coronavirus to date, daily lives have taken on an eerie, aimless calm. It's at night that the worry takes over. "You can hear the ambulances coming and going, and maybe they're going to sick people who have nothing to do with the coronavirus but it worries you just the same," said Davide Benelli from his home in Casalpusterlengo, a town of around 15,000 in Italy's quarantined "red zone" where the disease broke out a week ago. New coronavirus case in California is of unknown origin: county health officials

The latest confirmed U.S. case of coronavirus is of "unknown origin" and was diagnosed in a woman who had not traveled overseas or had contact with any known travelers, Santa Clara County Health officials said on Friday. The patient was identified as an adult woman with chronic health conditions who was referred for testing after she developed difficulty breathing, Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer for Santa Clara County and Director of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department, told an afternoon news conference. Mainland China, excluding Hubei, reports lowest new daily infections

Mainland China - excluding Hubei province where the new coronavirus outbreak originated - reported four new cases of infection on Friday, the lowest since the national health authority started compiling nationwide data in January. The central province of Hubei reported 423 new confirmed cases on Friday, the National Health Commission said on Saturday, up from 318 a day earlier. U.S. FDA approves first generic version of $750 Daraprim drug

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first generic version of Daraprim, a drug used to treat a disease resulting from a parasite infection. Daraprim came under the spotlight after a company once run by "pharma bro" Martin Shkreli bought the rights to the drug and then quickly raised the price from $17.50 per tablet to $750, while also taking steps to ensure there would not be a cheaper generic version of the medicine. (https://reut.rs/2wewhgy) United Kingdom has 19 confirmed coronavirus cases

The United Kingdom now has 19 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus after Wales identified its first case and two new cases were found in England, health authorities said on Friday. "The total number of UK cases is 19," the health ministry said. Florida law limiting first opioid prescription linked to drop in use

(Reuters Health) - A Florida law restricting the quantity of opioids a doctor can prescribe for acute pain to three days' worth may have led to overall reductions in opioids dispensed to patients in the state, a new study suggests. After the law was passed in July 2018, doctors wrote fewer and shorter prescriptions for opioids, researchers report in JAMA Network Open. New coronavirus case of unknown origin in California

The United States will invoke a federal defense law to boost production of masks, gloves, gowns and other items to protect against the new coronavirus, the Trump administration said, as a new case of unknown origin was confirmed in California on Friday. The latest U.S. case was reported in Santa Clara county in California, home to the Silicon Valley technology hub. County health officials said it was a case of unknown origin, the second in the state so far out of 10 cases there. Google employee who was at Zurich office tests positive for coronavirus

An employee of Alphabet Inc's Google, who had been in the Zurich office, has tested positive for coronavirus, the company said on Friday. "The Zurich office, like all other offices, remains open", a Google spokesperson said. New York scrambles to replace U.S. government's faulty coronavirus test kits

New York health officials are trying to get their own coronavirus testing kits up and running after getting stuck with faulty tests from the federal government that they said left them unable to diagnose people quickly in the nation's most populous city. New York state's Department of Health filed an emergency application on Friday with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be allowed to use a testing kit for the new coronavirus it has developed in-state, according to an official involved in the process.