Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Mnuchin says U.S. coronavirus aid bill cost should be significant, not huge

U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Sunday officials will have a better idea this week of the total cost of a coronavirus aid package, but predicted it will likely be "significant but not huge." Mnuchin told "Fox News Sunday" he also planned to talk to lawmakers about critical aid to airlines, as well as the hotel and cruise ship industries. Iran's death toll from coronavirus reaches 724, says health official

Iran said on Sunday that the new coronavirus has killed 113 people in the past 24 hours, raising the country's death toll to 724, a health ministry official tweeted, adding that the number of infected people had reached 13,938. The new figures were tweeted by Alireza Vahabzadeh, an adviser to Iran's health minister. China tightens quarantine, airport checks as imported coronavirus cases tick up

China has tightened checks on international travelers at Beijing airport and said it will centrally quarantine all arrivals at its capital, after new imported coronavirus cases surpassed locally transmitted infections for a second day. China, where the epidemic began in December, appears to now face a greater threat of new infections from outside its borders as it continues to slow the spread of the virus domestically. Australia mulls second stimulus package to tackle coronavirus, sources say

Australia is considering a second round of economic stimulus, three sources familiar with the deliberations told Reuters, as Canberra accelerated efforts to contain the spread of the coronavirus that has now killed five people in the country. Australia has recorded nearly 300 cases of coronavirus and authorities fear a rapid rise in the flu-like respiratory disease. Americans will have access to more than 2,000 labs for coronavirus testing, Pence says

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence promised on Sunday that Americans would have access in the days ahead to more than 2,000 laboratories capable of processing coronavirus tests, and a leading expert said the country would launch a new phase of testing for the fast-spreading disease. Speaking to reporters at the White House, Pence also said he and President Donald Trump would brief U.S. state governors on Monday on the widening testing amid a fast-escalating global health crisis. U.S. clinical trial for coronavirus vaccine to begin Monday: AP

A clinical trial to evaluate a vaccine designed to protect against the new coronavirus will begin on Monday, the Associated Press reported, citing an unnamed U.S. government official. The first participant in the trial, which is being funded by the National Institutes of Health and taking place at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in Seattle, will receive the experimental vaccine on Monday, the AP reported. Japan identifies 15 coronavirus clusters

Japan's health ministry said it has identified 15 clusters of coronavirus infections around the country. The biggest cluster was in the Osaka area, with more than 50 infections centered around a music venue, according to a document on the ministry's website. It was initially reported by Kyodo news. Britain set to isolate over-70s as coronavirus deaths rise to 35

Britain will isolate older people "within weeks" and force into quarantine anyone diagnosed with coronavirus, the government said as it stepped up measures that have so far been less stringent than elsewhere in Europe. The British Heath Secretary Matt Hancock said people aged over 70 would be shielded from the virus by self-isolating for up to four months, with an announcement "in the coming weeks". Germany tries to halt U.S. interest in firm working on coronavirus vaccine

Berlin is trying to stop Washington from persuading a German company seeking a coronavirus vaccine to move its research to the United States, prompting German politicians to insist no country should have a monopoly on any future vaccine. German government sources told Reuters on Sunday that the U.S. administration was looking into how it could gain access to a potential vaccine being developed by a German firm, CureVac. China sees fewer coronavirus cases, wary of international travelers

Mainland China reported an overall drop in new coronavirus infections on Sunday, but major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai continued to wrestle with cases involving infected travelers arriving from abroad. Mainland China had 16 new confirmed cases on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, down from 20 a day earlier. That brings the total number of confirmed cases in China so far to 80,860.

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