Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. U.S. military to halt domestic travel due to coronavirus

The U.S. military said on Friday that it will halt, with some exceptions, all domestic travel for service members, Defense Department civilians and their families in a move aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus and its impact on the military. The move, which goes further than previous restrictions on international travel, highlights the degree to which the U.S. military, which has only a handful of coronavirus cases, is concerned and the lengths it is willing to take to protect the more than a million active-duty troops around the world. Mainland China sees imported virus cases exceed new local infections for first time

The number of new coronavirus cases imported into mainland China from overseas surpassed the number of locally transmitted new infections for the first time on Friday, data released by the National Health Commission showed on Saturday. Mainland China had 11 new confirmed cases on Friday, up from eight cases a day earlier, but only four of those - all in the virus epicenter of Hubei province - were locally transmitted. Venezuela confirms coronavirus cases amid public health concerns

Venezuela on Friday confirmed its first two cases of coronavirus amid concerns that the economically struggling South American nation is unprepared to confront a pandemic that is spreading rapidly around the globe. "We are declaring a state of alarm," President Nicolas Maduro said in a televised appearance Friday night, urging Venezuelans to take precautionary measures and asking those over 65 to stay inside. 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 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 Drive-through coronavirus tests: coming to a store near you

New York state opened its first drive-through coronavirus test site on Friday, following a similar experiment in Seattle. Other places are set to do the same, improving availability of tests while keeping people in cars to avoid spreading the virus. "This is a very creative way of testing," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo told a news conference on Friday in New Rochelle, a suburb of New York City that has one of the biggest cluster of coronavirus cases in the United States. To date, the virus has killed at least 47 Americans and infected nearly 1,700, with many more expected. South Korea reports 107 new coronavirus cases, total 8,086: KCDC

South Korea reported more recoveries from the coronavirus than new infections on Saturday for the second day in a row, as a downward trend in daily cases raised hopes that Asia's biggest epidemic outside China may be slowing. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recorded 107 new coronavirus cases on Saturday compared with 110 a day earlier, taking the national tally to 8,086. In contrast, 204 patients were released from hospitals where they had been isolated for treatment. As coronavirus chaos spreads globally, Trump declares U.S. emergency

President Donald Trump declared a U.S. national emergency over the quickly spreading coronavirus on Friday, opening the door to more government aid to combat a pathogen that has infected more than 138,000 people worldwide and left over 5,000 dead. The impact of the coronavirus on everyday life deepened around the world. It was detected for the first time in several countries, with the World Health Organization (WHO) calling Europe the pandemic's current epicenter. More schools and businesses closed, the global sporting calendar was left in tatters, and people faced greater restrictions on where they could go. Canada ramps up battle against virus, slashes rates and promises stimulus

Canadian authorities on Friday ramped up measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak and announced emergency measures, including a surprise half-point interest rate cut, to take the edge off the economic impact. Ottawa advised citizens against non-essential foreign travel, moved to funnel international flights into a few select airports, and banned cruise ships carrying more than 500 people from ports until the end of June. Coronavirus cases in Japan at 1,423 as of Saturday morning: NHK

The number of coronavirus cases in Japan has risen to 1,423 as of mid-morning on Saturday, with western Nagasaki prefecture reporting its first case, public broadcaster NHK said. The total of 1,423 infections includes 697 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship and 14 returnees on charter flights from China, according to NHK data. New Zealand says everyone entering country must self-isolate to contain coronavirus

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Saturday that everyone entering the country from midnight Sunday must self isolate for 14 days in an effort to contain the spread of the new coronavirus. People from small South Pacific island countries, which currently have no reported cases, will be exempted, Ardern said in a news conference. New Zealand has a large South Pacific islander population.