Health News at Your Fingertips

New Zealand has reported 1 new coronavirus case, in a person staying at a managed isolation facility, Newshub reports:

The new case is the child of two people previously reported as having Covid-19 who arrived in New Zealand from Italy on 4 July. The family is in quarantine at the Commodore Hotel in Christchurch.

There is still no evidence of community transmission, with the last case of Covid-19 acquired locally from an unknown source detected 76 days ago.

The news about the vaccine being developed by Moderna affected markets, which rallied in response to the rising hopes for a Covid-19 vaccine Wednesday, and the S&P 500 climbed back to where it was a few days after it set its record early this year, AP reports.

Investors see a vaccine as the best way for the economy and human life to get back to normal, and researchers said late Tuesday that one developed by the National Institutes of Health and Moderna revved up people’s immune systems in early testing, as hoped. The S&P 500 rose 0.9% to pull within 4.7% of its all-time high set in February.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 227.51 points, or 0.9%, to 26,870.10, and the Nasdaq composite gained 61.91, or 0.6%, to 10,550.49. During the morning, the S&P 500 touched its highest level since 25 February, and it ended the day at 3,226.56, up 29.04.

Several things helped lift the market, including stronger-than-expected reports on the economy and on corporate profits from Goldman Sachs and others. But the vaccine hopes were at the centre of the rise, which meant the market’s leaderboard was dominated by companies that would benefit most from a return to normal life. They included cruise-ship operators, airlines, retailers and hotel chains.

Leading US infectious diseases expert, Dr Anthony Fauci, predicted on Wednesday the country will meet its goal of a coronavirus vaccine by year’s end, Reuters reports.

While there are no guarantees, “I feel good about the projected timetable,” Fauci told Reuters in an interview.

His comments follow promising early stage data for the Moderna Inc’s (MRNA.O) coronavirus vaccine, released on Tuesday, that was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which Fauci directs.

Many experts see a safe and effective vaccine as the only way out of the pandemic that has infected millions and killed more than 575,000 people worldwide.

Fauci said Moderna’s results were especially promising because the vaccine appeared to offer the type of protection seen in a natural infection.

Bolsonaro has played down the country’s mounting death toll, now over 74,000, out of nearly 2 million confirmed cases, and said his good physical condition would prevent him from developing serious symptoms if he got ill.

He has also sidelined medical experts in Brazil’s handling of the pandemic, pushed back against state and city lockdowns and circulated often in public without a mask, drawing criticism from public health specialists.

He has also said he was taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine, an unproven Covid-19 treatment that he and U.S. President Donald Trump have touted as a remedy for the coronavirus.

Bolsonaro’s pressure to use the drug alienated two health ministers who resigned in the middle of the pandemic. The ministry is being led on an interim basis by an active duty army general.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has again tested positive for coronavirus, he told reporters on Wednesday in Brasilia, suggesting he has yet to recover from an infection first diagnosed last week, Reuters reports.

Since catching the virus, the president has said he remains in good health and he would resume his normal work schedule if he tested negative this week. On Wednesday he said he would get tested again in a few days.

Bolsonaro first announced his diagnosis on 7 July after dismissing the severity of the Covid-19 pandemic, calling it a “little flu” even as Brazil’s outbreak became the worst in the world outside the United States.

Canada’s efforts to flatten the curve of coronavirus cases have put the country on the cusp of zero deaths from Covid-19 for the first time since March, but officials see worrying signs of a new spike as provinces lift restrictions, Reuters reports.

For months, Canadians followed strict public health rules on social movement as the 10 provinces quickly shut down large parts of the economy, ramped up testing and boosted space in intensive care units.

Some provinces curbed internal journeys while Ottawa barred international visitors, closed the land border to non-essential travel with the United States, which has become a global pandemic epicenter, and deployed military staff to hard-hit nursing homes.

Canadian deaths edged up eight to 8,798 according to government data late Tuesday, while the total number of cases grew by 331, to 108,486. By contrast, the United States recently set a one-day record in new cases with 60,500 as the national death toll rose to more than 135,000.

But health experts and politicians fret the sacrifices Canadians made could be imperilled as the economy moves to a full reopening including schools, especially in heavily populated central Canada, and as US authorities struggle to contain the spread south of the border.

Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital, said:

Everyone is preparing for a potential spike in cases … I think that’s inevitable.”

US president Donald Trump issued a rare rebuke of his senior adviser Peter Navarro on Wednesday, saying he should not have written the scathing USA Today opinion piece about Dr Fauci. Navarro, a trade adviser who at times has expanded his reach within the Trump White House, wrote:

Dr Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on.

The initial lack of a pushback from the White House for the article fed a belief that Navarro’s article was supported at the top levels of the White House. But, departing for a trip to Atlanta, Trump was asked whether Navarro had gone rogue.

Well, he made a statement representing himself. He shouldn’t be doing that. No, I have a very good relationship with Anthony.

A White House official told Reuters that Trump did not endorse Navarro’s article and that Navarro was told “explicitly in recent days to de-escalate the situation”. The official said that White House chief of staff Mark Meadows felt Navarro’s article was “unacceptable”.

South Africa has surpassed 300,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as the first wave of the pandemic crashes into the African continent.

South Africa’s 311,049 cases make up close to half of those across the 54-nation continent.

Already shortages of medical oxygen and hospital beds are being reported.

While more than 4,400 deaths in South Africa have been attributed to the virus, a report by the South African Medical Research Council says the country had nearly 11,000 excess deaths between 6 May and 7 July.

The government this week tightened some restrictions, making face masks mandatory in public places and re-imposing a ban on alcohol sales.

Hello and welcome to today’s live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

My name is Helen Sullivan and I’ll be bringing you the latest from around the world – and, as always, it would be great to hear from you. Send tips, suggestions, questions and embarrassingly large gifts to me on Twitter @helenrsullivan or via email: helen.sullivan@theguardian.com.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the senior public health expert on the White House coronavirus task force, says that the US needs to focus from the federal level on getting the virus now surging in the south and west under control “rather than these games people are playing.”

“We’ve got to almost reset this and say, ‘Okay, let’s stop this nonsense,’” he said in an interview with the Atlantic when he was asked to describe “the truth about the federal response to the pandemic”.

Fauci’s comments came as US cases increased by a world daily case record of 67,000, taking the total to 3.4 million confirmed infections.

Meanwhile in South Africa, cases have passed 300,000, the highest in Africa and in among the 10-highest in the world.

• In Majorca, Spain, the town of Magaluf is closing its party strip of Punta Ballena, after footage of drunken British tourists flouting regulations about wearing masks and social distancing while dancing on cars prompted an outcry. The Balearic Islands’ tourism minister also announced the closure of two other notorious party strips.
• Ireland delayed the easing of lockdown measures and introduced a requirement that face coverings be worn in shops. The taoiseach Micheál Martin said the pause was disappointing, but necessary.
• A war of words between Trump allies and the White House’s top infectious disease expert continued. Dr Anthony Fauci said he could not understand efforts by some to discredit him, though the US president himself rebuked his own aide over the criticism.
• Spain has recorded 390 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours – the highest single-day figure since 22 May. Most of the new cases are in the northeastern regions of Aragón and Catalonia.
• The US has seen 67,000 cases in a single day – the highest number in 24 hours so far, according to John Hopkins University. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put the figure at 60,971.
• Iran said today that 140 of its health workers had died of coronavirus and 5,000 have been infected. Amnesty International has estimated that more than 3,000 health workers have died globally, although it says the figure is likely to be a significant underestimate.
• Levels of childhood immunisations against dangerous diseases such as measles, tetanus and diphtheria have dropped alarmingly during the Covid-19 pandemic, putting millions of children at risk, United Nations agencies have warned.
• The European commission said today that European Union states should bring forward vaccinations against flu to the summer to reduce the risk of simultaneous influenza and Covid-19 outbreaks in the autumn. It also urged states to increase the number of people vaccinated.
• Walmart, the world’s largest retailer, is making face coverings mandatory for shoppers in all its stores from Monday. It said that about 65% of its more than 5,000 stores and clubs are located in areas where there is already some form of government mandate on face coverings and by making it compulsory in all outlets it will bring consistency.