Reuters Health News Summary

Following is a summary of current health news briefs. Cats can catch coronavirus, study finds, prompting WHO investigation

Cats can become infected with the new coronavirus but dogs appear not to be vulnerable, according to a study published on Wednesday, prompting the WHO to say it will take a closer look at transmission of the virus between humans and pets. The study, published on the website of the journal Science, found that ferrets can also become infected with SARS-CoV-2, the scientific term for the virus that causes the COVID-19 disease. From fine to flailing - rapid health declines in COVID-19 patients jar doctors, nurses

One medical worker called it "insane," another said it induces paranoia - the speed with which patients are declining and dying from the novel coronavirus is shocking even veteran doctors and nurses as they scramble to determine how to stop such sudden deterioration. Patients "look fine, feel fine, then you turn around and they're unresponsive," said Diana Torres, a nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, where the virus has infected more than 415,000 people. "I'm paranoid, scared to walk out of their room." U.S. nurses who can't get tested fear they are spreading COVID-19

In New York City, an intensive care nurse treated patients for three days after she started displaying symptoms of COVID-19 - but couldn't get a test from her hospital. In Georgia, a nurse was denied a test after treating an infected patient who died. In Michigan, one of the few hospital systems conducting widespread staff testing found that more than 700 workers were infected with the coronavirus - more than a quarter of those tested. Trump thanks India for decision on anti-malaria drug

President Donald Trump on Wednesday thanked India for its decision to increase exports of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine, an unproven treatment that Trump has promoted in the fight against the novel coronavirus. India said on Tuesday it will allow some exports of hydroxychloroquine after Trump urged New Delhi to release supplies of the drug seen as a possible treatment for COVID-19. France's coronavirus daily hospital death toll slows

The number of people who died from coronavirus infections in French hospitals climbed by 8% in a day to a cumulative total of 7,632, state health agency director Jerome Salomon told a news conference on Wednesday. But he added the day's figures were incomplete as authorities were not able to register nursing homes data, which account for more than 30% of total fatalities, due to "technical problems". Speed of coronavirus deaths shock doctors as New York toll hits new high

New York state, epicenter of America's coronavirus crisis, set another single-day record of COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, as veteran doctors and nurses voiced astonishment at the speed with which patients were deteriorating and dying. The number of known coronavirus infections in New York state alone approached 150,000 on Wednesday, even as authorities warned that the official death tally may understate the true number because it omits those who have perished at home. New York hospital sends some 'borderline' COVID-19 patients home with oxygen monitors

Some coronavirus patients who would have been admitted into the emergency department at a New York hospital are being sent home with an oxygen-monitoring device as the city's medical system struggles to reserve resources for only the sickest people. The new program at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is an example of how doctors are adapting and loosening normal protocols to ease the strain on emergency rooms and intensive care units in New York state, the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States. New Zealand orders quarantine for returning citizens in coronavirus battle

New Zealand will begin moving citizens to compulsory quarantine from Friday as they return from overseas, stepping up its efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus halfway through a four-week nationwide lockdown. The shutdown began in late March in the Pacific nation of about 5 million, and a state of national emergency was declared to stifle local transmissions of the respiratory disease. U.S. to seize exports of masks and gloves amid coronavirus crisis

The United States will seize exports of key protective medical gear until it determines whether the equipment should be kept in the country to combat the spread of the new coronavirus, two federal agencies announced on Wednesday. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will hold exports of respirators, surgical masks and surgical gloves, according to a joint announcement made with the Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA will then determine if the equipment should be returned for use in the United States, purchased by the U.S. government or exported. WHO rejects 'China-centric' charge after Trump criticism

World Health Organization officials on Wednesday denied that the body was "China-centric" and said that the acute phase of a pandemic was not the time to cut funding, after U.S. President Donald Trump said he may put contributions on hold. The United States is the top donor to the Geneva-based body which Trump said had issued bad advice during the new coronavirus outbreak.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)