Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Thailand reports 51 new coronavirus cases, three more deaths

Thailand reported 51 new coronavirus cases and three more deaths on Monday, according to a spokesman for the government's Center for COVID-19 Situation Administration. Thirteen of the new cases were medical personnel who attended to infected patients or had activities with them, said the spokesman, Taweesin Wisanuyothin. Italy starts to look ahead to 'phase two' as COVID-19 death toll slows

Italy reported its lowest daily COVID-19 death toll for more than two weeks on Sunday as authorities began to look ahead to a second phase of the battle against the new coronavirus once the lockdown imposed almost a month ago is eventually eased. The toll from the world's deadliest outbreak reached 15,887, almost a quarter of the global death total, but the rise of 525 from a day earlier was the smallest daily increase since March 19, while the number of patients in badly stretched intensive care units fell for a second day running. Japan animal ventilator maker looks to boost output for human coronavirus patients

A Japanese medical equipment maker said it has been approached by Japan's government to mass produce its animal ventilators to treat people diagnosed with the new coronavirus, and that other countries have also expressed interest. Metran Co Chief Executive Kazufuku Nitta said the approach was made late last month and that the United States, Britain and India are among over 30 countries the company is talking to. Virus-hit Carnival cruise ship docks in Australia for crew emergencies

Carnival Corp's troubled Ruby Princess cruise liner docked at a port on Australia's east coast on Monday to help remove crew who need urgent medical treatment and to refuel the ship to send it away. The Ruby Princess has been the biggest single source of Australia's 5,687 COVID-19 cases and is now the target of a criminal investigation led by the homicide squad in the state of New South Wales (NSW). China sees rises in new coronavirus cases, asymptomatic patients

Mainland China reported 39 new coronavirus cases as of Sunday, up from 30 a day earlier, and the number of asymptomatic cases also surged, as Beijing continued to struggle to extinguish the outbreak despite drastic containment efforts. The National Health Commission said in a statement on Monday that 78 new asymptomatic cases had been identified as of the end of the day on Sunday, compared with 47 the day before. U.S. enters 'hardest, saddest' week in coronavirus crisis

The United States enters one of the most critical weeks so far in the coronavirus crisis with the death toll exploding in New York, Michigan and Louisiana and some governors calling for a national order to stay at home. New York is the hardest-hit state with more than 40% of all U.S. deaths and nearly 115,000 reported cases on Saturday. 'We're not hungry, we need masks' says Australian doctor on coronavirus frontline

Australian hospital workers on the coronavirus frontline say they daily receive letters of thanks, some people even bring them pizzas, but what they really need is proper respiratory face masks to replace faulty and homemade face shields. While doctors and nurses in some hospitals struggle to obtain respiratory N95 face masks, Australians walking the streets can be seen wearing them. UK's Izana Bioscience tests rheumatoid arthritis drug in COVID-19 patients

UK-based biopharma company Izana Bioscience said it was testing its antibody therapy namilumab for the treatment of patients with rapidly worsening COVID-19 at the Humanitas Research Hospitals in Bergamo and Milan in Italy. Namilumab is a monoclonal antibody therapy currently in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis. Tiger at New York's Bronx Zoo tests positive for coronavirus

A tiger at the Bronx Zoo in New York City has tested positive for the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus, in the first known case of a human infecting an animal and making it sick, the zoo's chief veterinarian said on Sunday. Nadia, the 4-year-old Malayan tiger that tested positive, was screened for the COVID-19 disease after developing a dry cough along with three other tigers and three lions, the Wildlife Conservation Society, which manages the zoo, said in a statement. All of the cats are expected to recover, it said. Tesla engineers show ventilator prototype on YouTube

Engineers at Tesla Inc showed a prototype for a ventilator on Sunday evening in a video published on the company's YouTube channel, as hospitals around the country overwhelmed by coronavirus patients face device shortages. The design for the ventilators relies heavily on Tesla car parts, one of the engineers said, enabling the company to redeploy existing stock and produce the devices quickly.