Health News Roundup: Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread; Romania's COVID cases nearly double in a week and more

Lee spoke at his first weekly news conference as the city's chief executive after being sworn in on Friday by China's President Xi Jinping following celebrations marking 25 years since the former British colony's return to Chinese rule. Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus Hong Kong's new leader said the city will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while parts of eastern China are running fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing, as the country faces new waves of infections.

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Macau COVID outbreak hits more than 900 as infections spread

Macau reported 89 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the total to more than 900 infections since mid-June, as authorities in the world's biggest gambling hub race to contain its largest outbreak since the pandemic began. More than 13,000 people are under quarantine in the Chinese special administrative region, which has effectively shut down to limit the spread of coronavirus.

Romania's COVID cases nearly double in a week

The number of new COVID-19 infections in Romania nearly doubled over the last week, with a peak of 10,000 daily cases expected in mid-August, Health Minister Alexandru Rafila said on Monday. Romania is the European Union's second-least vaccinated state, with just over 42% of the population fully inoculated amid distrust of state institutions and poor vaccine education.

Swine fever outbreak in Germany's top pork state poses a lasting threat

The spread of African Swine Fever to Germany's most important pig rearing region has dealt a serious blow to the sector with major markets such as China likely to maintain import bans for years to come, analysts said on Monday. The outbreak on a farm in Emsland, Lower Saxony is the first in the northwest region where much of Germany's pig sector is concentrated.

Abortion worries heightened for unauthorized immigrants in the U.S

Last week calls from Texas began flooding into a national abortion assistance hotline with Spanish-language operators: One woman called afraid to fly to New Mexico because of her immigration status. Another woman said she would have to keep her pregnancy because she feared deportation if she crossed state lines. A third worried that she would be detained by immigration authorities if she used public transportation to travel. Penelope DiAlberto, a regional case manager for Texas at the National Abortion Federation, said the three women were among a massive spike in calls to their hotline on the Friday and Saturday after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that had recognized women's constitutional right to abortion.

China's Shanghai announces two new rounds of mass COVID testing

The city of Shanghai on Tuesday announced two new rounds of mass COVID-19 testing of most of its 25 million residents over a three-day period, citing the need to trace infections linked to an outbreak at a karaoke lounge. The city government said on its official WeChat account that all residents in nine of the city's 16 districts would be tested twice from Tuesday to Thursday. People in parts of three other districts would also have to undergo tests.

U.S. drug distributors prevail in $2.5 billion West Virginia opioid case

Major U.S. drug distributors McKesson Corp, AmerisourceBergen Corp and Cardinal Health Inc are not responsible for fueling an opioid epidemic in a part of West Virginia, a federal judge ruled on Monday. U.S. District Judge David Faber rejected efforts by the city of Huntington and Cabell County to force the country's three largest pharmaceutical distributors to pay $2.5 billion to address a drug crisis prompted by a flood of addictive pills in their region.

CureVac files patent lawsuit in Germany against BioNTech

CureVac has filed a patent lawsuit in Germany against BioNTech over its use of mRNA technology, marking one of the first known cases of a company going to court amid the fierce competition to develop a vaccine against the coronavirus. The German-based company is seeking "fair compensation" from BioNTech and two subsidiaries for infringement of its intellectual property rights, it said on Tuesday.

Hong Kong considers shorter COVID quarantine for travellers -Lee

Hong Kong will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while still aiming to curb the spread of the virus and prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, the city's new leader John Lee said on Tuesday. Lee spoke at his first weekly news conference as the city's chief executive after being sworn in on Friday by China's President Xi Jinping following celebrations marking 25 years since the former British colony's return to Chinese rule.

Factbox-Latest on the worldwide spread of the coronavirus

Hong Kong's new leader said the city will look into shortening COVID-19 quarantine requirements for travellers, while parts of eastern China are running fresh rounds of mass COVID-19 testing, as the country faces new waves of infections. DEATHS AND INFECTIONS

Wuxi Biologics takes step to getting off U.S. 'unverified' trade list

Wuxi Biologics, a Chinese company that makes ingredients for AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, maybe a step closer to being taken off a U.S. trade list that it landed on five months ago, wiping HK$77 billion($9.9 billion) off its market value at the time. Chinese authorities allowed a U.S. export control officer to conduct inspections of at least one company in the city of Wuxi last week, a U.S. Commerce Department official said.

(With inputs from agencies.)