Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Germany, Italy rush to buy life-saving ventilators as manufacturers warn of shortages

Germany and Italy spearheaded a national scramble for ventilators as manufacturers warned on Friday that hospitals everywhere face a lack of vital equipment needed to treat coronavirus patients. Germany's Draegerwerk said its government placed an order for 10,000 ventilators for intensive respiratory care, the medical gear maker's largest order ever and equivalent to a year's normal production. Doctors, and insurers too, urge patients to get medicine on hand

As Americans stay home to try to help stop the spread of a new coronavirus, many patients with conditions that require prescription drugs are being urged to refill their medications for a longer period. Doctors, patient advocates and insurers themselves are telling Americans with chronic conditions such as diabetes that require life saving medications to make sure they have more than enough medicine on hand. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also says people should have extra medicine available. Like the flu? Trump's coronavirus messaging confuses public, pandemic researchers say

The coronavirus is not as bad as the seasonal flu. President Donald Trump is not worried about having had a direct exposure to the virus. The United States is in far better shape than other countries. Those are some of the messages from Trump to the American public in recent days. India reports second death from coronavirus

India reported its second death from coronavirus, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetail.aspx?PRID=1606408 on Friday. The patient was a 68-year-old woman with diabetes and hypertension and died in the country's capital New Delhi. Trump declares coronavirus a national emergency, freeing $50 billion in funds

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency over the fast-spreading coronavirus, opening the door to what he said was about $50 billion in federal aid to fight a disease he said could have an even greater impact on the country. "It could get worse. The next eight weeks will be critical," Trump said. Germany's CureVac says low-dose coronavirus vaccine could allow for mass production

Germany's CureVac, among the vaccine developers funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), said it could mass-produce a coronavirus immunization from its existing facilities if its low-dose approach proves successful in trials. Privately held Curevac, which was granted up to $8.3 million by CEPI in January, is working to draw on its low-dose vaccine technology, which has showed promise in an early-stage rabies trial, for use against the coronavirus. Trump set to declare emergency as coronavirus crisis deepens

As the coronavirus outbreak tore deeper into the fabric of American public life, President Donald Trump was expected to declare a national emergency on Friday to provide more money to fight a pandemic that has killed 41 people in the United States. The declaration of a national emergency, a rarely used presidential power, would allow the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist state and local governments and coordinate the nation's response to the crisis. Trump will hold a news briefing at 3 p.m. (1900 GMT). Trump declares U.S. emergency as coronavirus chaos spreads

President Donald Trump declared a U.S. national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more federal aid to combat a disease that has infected 138,000 people worldwide and left more than 5,000 dead. The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life deepened around the world, and it was detected for the first time in several more countries. Walgreens to provide spaces for COVID-19 testing outside its stores

Drugstore chain operator Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc said on Friday it would dedicate temporary spaces in some locations such as parking lots outside its stores to test for the coronavirus. The locations where non-Walgreens health personnel will conduct the testing and timing will be announced at a later date, the company said. Europe is epicenter of coronavirus pandemic: WHO

Europe has now become the epicenter of a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed 5,000 lives around the world, "a tragic milestone", the World Health Organization said on Friday. More than 132,000 cases of the virus have been reported in 123 countries since it emerged in December in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual news conference.