Wuhan to test all 11 million of its residents
Over a 10-day period, the Chinese city of Wuhan plans to administer coronavirus tests to all residents, according to Reuters, which cited an internal document.
Each district was asked to submit by Tuesday a detailed plan for how it could conduct the comprehensive testing in their respective regions. According to BBC News, the document states that older residents and densely populated regions should be prioritized. The document refers to the testing plan as “The 10-day battle.”
Wuhan, which became the first global epicenter to suffer a coronavirus outbreak, reported a cluster of new cases over the weekend. Wuhan lifted a strict lockdown on April 8.
There are now more than 81,000 deaths and 1.3 million confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S.. Worldwide, the virus has killed more than 289,000 people. More than 4.2 million people have been infected.
52 children with inflammatory syndrome
In New York City, 52 children have been diagnosed with a rare pediatric syndrome possibly linked to the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Another 10 cases are pending, and one child has died. Children elsewhere in the U.S. and in Europe also have been hospitalized with the condition, known as pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome.
“It’s sobering, it’s bluntly frightening,” de Blasio said, “and I want to say to parents out there, if you’re hearing this information about pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome and it sounds scary, it does sound scary.”
US donating ventilators to South Africa
The U.S. government is donating up to 1,000 ventilators and accompanying equipment to South Africa to assist that country’s battle against COVID-19. The U.S. Embassy tweeted that the gift is the first such global donation from the Trump administration – which has drawn criticism for failing to provide meaningful support to nations in need. The U.S.built ventilators “reflect state-of-the-art and in-demand” technology and cost about $14 million, with the accompanying equipment and related items pushing the value over $20 million, the embassy said in a statement.
“These ventilators are another example of the American spirit of generosity as we battle this virus at home in the United States and together abroad with our partner countries,” Ambassador Lana Marks said.
WHO picks ‘top’ vaccine candidates
Work is being accelerated on seven or eight “top” vaccine candidates to combat the coronavirus, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. He told the U.N. Economic and Social Council an effort was underway to compress the timeline of 12 to 18 months that was forecast two months ago – but he provided no new timeline.
Anthony Fauci, the top infectious-disease expert at the National Institutes of Health, in testimony during a coronavirus hearing before a Senate committee, added that if trials are successful, “we hope to know in the late fall and early winter.”
The top candidates were selected from more than 100 vaccine projects.
The effort is being financed by $8 billion in funding pledged by leaders from 40 countries and organizations, although the U.S. is not among them.
Tedros said more funding is needed to expedite development and “to make sure that this vaccine reaches everyone — there’s no one (to) be left behind.”