Health News Roundup: China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing - CCTV; Exclusive-WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread and more

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

China approves five COVID-19 antigen kits for self-testing - CCTV

China has granted approval to five COVID-19 antigen kits made by local companies to be used for self-testing, state broadcaster CCTV said on Saturday, as it tweaks its testing regime that has been pressured by Omicron. China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) published a notice on Friday saying Beijing Huaketai Biotechnology had been allowed to make changes to its COVID-19 antigen test kit's device certificate.

South Korea reports record high 383,665 new COVID-19 cases - KDCA

South Korea reported a new record daily high of 383,665 COVID-19 cases, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Saturday, amid a surge of Omicron infections.

China daily local COVID cases hit two-year high of over 1,500

Mainland China reported more than 1,500 new local COVID-19 infections on Saturday, the most since the first nationwide outbreak in early 2020, as the Omicron variant prompted Beijing to introduce self-testing kits for the first time. China's current case count is far fewer than those of many other countries, but the growing number could complicate Beijing's "dynamic-clearance" ambition to suppress contagion as quickly as possible.

China allows COVID antigen self-test kits for public as cases hit two-year high

China on Friday said it would for the first time allow the general public to use COVID-19 antigen self-test kits that do not need medical workers to take samples, in a bid to augment its testing regime that has been put under pressure by Omicron.

The general public will be able to buy self-test kits in stores and online, while medical institutions can offer antigen tests that require samples collected by professionals, the National Health Commission (NHC) said on its website.

Exclusive-WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread

The World Health Organization advised Ukraine to destroy high-threat pathogens housed in the country's public health laboratories to prevent "any potential spills" that would spread disease among the population, the agency told Reuters. Like many other countries, Ukraine has public health laboratories researching how to mitigate the threats of dangerous diseases affecting both animals and humans including, most recently, COVID-19. Its labs have received support from the United States, the European Union and the WHO.

U.S. FDA approves AstraZeneca-Merck's Lynparza to treat early-stage breast cancer

British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its cancer drug, jointly developed with U.S.-based Merck & Co, as a treatment for patients with early-stage breast cancer with certain mutations. AstraZeneca said on Friday the drug, Lynparza, was approved for patients with a form of genetically mutated high-risk early-stage breast cancer called BRCA-mutated HER2-negative, who have already been treated with chemotherapy either before or after surgery.

GeoVax vaccine targeting virus in two places shows promise; virus may become resistant to antibody drugs

The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the findings and that has yet to be certified by peer review. Two vaccine targets on virus may be better than one

Hong Kong leader Lam says city not yet past COVID peak

Hong Kong reported 27,647 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, with city leader Carrie Lam saying the outbreak was not yet past its peak despite recent daily case numbers slightly levelling off. Health authorities reported 27,647 new positive cases in Hong Kong on Saturday, versus 29,381 new infections on Friday and 31,402 new cases on Thursday. 198 new deaths were also reported in the past 24 hours.

Australia nears living with COVID like flu - PM Morrison

Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the nation's political leaders want to move to a new phase of living with COVID-19 as though it were the flu, but would consult health experts. A day after meeting with the national cabinet of state and federal leaders, Morrison told reporters on Saturday morning they had discussed moving to "Phase D" of the national pandemic response plan.

French COVID-19 infections again up 25% week-on-week, trend upward again

New COVID-19 infections in France rose by more than 25% on Friday compared to a week ago after rising more than 24% on Thursday, as a downward trend that had started late January reversed. The health ministry registered 72,399 new infections on Friday, while the seven-day moving average of new infections also rose, for the fourth day in a row, by nearly 16% to more than 60,000.

(With inputs from agencies.)