Health News Roundup: Singapore reports 17 new cases of coronavirus; Iran's death toll from coronavirus increases to 853 and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Singapore reports 17 new cases of coronavirus in biggest daily jump

Singapore confirmed 17 more cases of the coronavirus, its health ministry said on Monday, marking the city-state's biggest daily jump. Singapore has reported a total of 243 infections to date. Eleven of Monday's cases were imported.

Make us ventilators to fight coronavirus, UK government asks manufacturers

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will ask manufacturers to retool production to start making specialist health equipment including ventilators and will look at using hotels as emergency hospitals to cope with the coronavirus outbreak. Britain has taken a distinctly different approach to tackle coronavirus from European countries such as Italy, Spain, and France which have imposed stringent lockdowns to try to slow the spread of the disease.

Coronavirus may be slowing in Italy's worst hit region: governor

Lombardy, the northern Italian region that has suffered the biggest hit from Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak, is showing the first signs of a possible slowdown in contagion, its governor said on Monday. The heavily populated region that includes Italy's financial capital Milan has seen 1,218 deaths. Of those, 252 were recorded between Saturday and Sunday, the largest toll so far.

Iran's death toll from coronavirus increases to 853: official

Iran's death toll from the new coronavirus has reached 853 with 129 new deaths in the past 24 hours, a health ministry official tweeted on Monday, adding that 14,991 people have been infected across Iran. "In the past 24 hours we had 1,053 confirmed new cases of coronavirus and 129 new deaths," Alireza Vahabzadeh tweeted.

Trump adviser Navarro preparing executive order to reduce U.S. dependency on foreign medicines: CNBC

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Monday he was preparing to bring an executive order to President Donald Trump that would help relocate medical supply chains from overseas to the United States amid the coronavirus outbreak. Navarro, in a CNBC interview, also said Trump's push for a payroll tax cut would provide enough stimulus to help combat the damage from the coronavirus.

Coronavirus hits 'heart and soul' as New York, Los Angeles bars and theaters forced to close

Bars, restaurants, theaters and movie houses in New York and Los Angeles were ordered to shut down to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic as central banks around the world took aggressive steps to cushion the economic impact of the disease. The U.S. Federal Reserve slashed interest rates, for the second time in less than two weeks, to near zero and other central banks followed suit but stock markets and the dollar continued to tumble.

Sanofi, Regeneron begin testing arthritis drug as coronavirus treatment

Sanofi SA and partner Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc have started a clinical trial of their rheumatoid arthritis drug Kevzara as a treatment for the coronavirus, the companies said on Monday. Enrolments for the mid-to-late stage trial will begin immediately, and the companies anticipate the trial will test up to 400 patients.

What you need to know about coronavirus today

Here's what you need to know about the coronavirus epidemic today: "Worst ahead" BioNTech in China alliance with Fosun over potential coronavirus vaccine

BioNTech struck a collaboration deal with Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical over the German biotech firm's rights in China to an experimental coronavirus vaccine, the latest gambit in a global race to halt the pandemic. Once regulators approve the vaccine, Fosun will market it in China, with BioNTech retaining rights for the rest of the world, the German group said, adding that it was aiming to start testing on humans from late April.BioNTech also said it was in advanced discussions with its existing partner Pfizer over the development of the vaccine outside China. The U.S. pharma giant earlier this month identified BioNTech as a potential partner for the development.

China sees fewer coronavirus cases, wary of international travellers

Mainland China reported a drop in new coronavirus infections on Sunday, but major cities such as Beijing and Shanghai continued to wrestle with cases of infected travelers arriving from abroad. China had 16 new infections on Sunday, the National Health Commission said on Monday, down from 20 the previous day, taking the mainland's tally to 80,860.

(With inputs from agencies.)