Health News Roundup: Fearing COVID, workers flee from Foxconn's vast Chinese iPhone plant; China bars GSK from national drug bulk-buy program over drug irregularities and more

He walked through the night, keeping to a northerly route, towards his hometown of Hebi, every step taking him farther away from iPhone maker Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant, the Taiwan-based group's largest in mainland China. Indonesia revokes firms' fever syrup licences amid probe into 150 deaths Indonesia's food and drug agency (BPOM) said on Monday it had revoked licenses of syrup-type drug production of two local firms for violating manufacturing rules, as it probes the deaths of more than 150 children due to acute kidney injury (AKI).

Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Fearing COVID, workers flee from Foxconn's vast Chinese iPhone plant

After enduring days of lock-in at Foxconn's vast facility in central China with 200,000 other workers, Yuan finally climbed the fences on Saturday night and escaped the complex, joining others fleeing what they feared was a widening COVID outbreak. He walked through the night, keeping to a northerly route, towards his hometown of Hebi, every step taking him farther away from iPhone maker Foxconn's Zhengzhou plant, the Taiwan-based group's largest in mainland China.

China bars GSK from national drug bulk-buy program over drug irregularities

China has blocked British drugmaker GSK plc from participating in its national drug procurement program from Oct. 31, 2022 to April 29, 2024, state television CCTV reported on Monday. CCTV said authorities had decided to do so after a batch of dutasteride soft capsules supplied by GSK failed a recent quality check by the National Medical Products Administration.

Indonesia revokes firms' fever syrup licences amid probe into 150 deaths

Indonesia's food and drug agency (BPOM) said on Monday it had revoked licenses of syrup-type drug production of two local firms for violating manufacturing rules, as it probes the deaths of more than 150 children due to acute kidney injury (AKI). The decision comes after Indonesia temporarily banned sales of some syrup-based medications and identified the presence in some products of ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol as possible factors in the AKI deaths, most of which were of children under five.

Mexico detects H5N1 bird flu in farm near U.S. border

Mexico has detected the severe H5N1 strain of avian influenza at a 60,000-bird commercial farm in Nuevo Leon state on the border with the United States, the government said on Sunday. The discovery at the chicken farm comes just over a week after Mexico reported its first-ever case of H5N1 avian influenza, or bird flu, to the Paris-based World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

Macau reimposes COVID curbs as China loosens visa rules for gambling hub

Macau authorities reinstated tough COVID-19 curbs including locking down a major casino over the weekend after a handful of cases were detected, even as China announced a loosening of visa rules for visitors to the world's biggest gambling hub. Authorities locked down the MGM Cotai casino resort owned by MGM China on Sunday, with staff and guests ordered to stay inside until Nov. 1. More than 1,500 people are sealed inside the property, the government said on Monday.

Battling cholera, Lebanon gets first vaccines, and sharp words, from France

Lebanon took delivery on Monday of its first vaccines to combat a worsening cholera outbreak - together with sharply worded criticism of the crisis-hit country's crumbling public health infrastructure from donor nation France. By Sunday, cases of cholera - a disease typically spread through contaminated water, food or sewage - stood at 1,447, with 17 deaths, since the first were recorded in the country a month ago, the health ministry said.

In Africa's monkeypox outbreak, sickness and death go undetected

At a village clinic in central Congo, separated from the world by a tangle of waterways and forests, six-year-old Angelika Lifafu grips her dress and screams as nurses in protective suits pick at one of the hundreds of boils that trouble her delicate skin. Her uncle, 12-year-old Lisungi Lifafu, sits at the foot of her bed, facing away from the sunlight that pours through the doorway and pains his swollen, weeping eyes. When nurses approach, he raises his chin, but cannot look up.

Shanghai Disney shuts over COVID, visitors unable to leave

Shanghai's Disney Resort abruptly suspended operations on Monday to comply with COVID-19 prevention measures, with all visitors at the time of the announcement directed to stay in the park until they return a negative test for the virus. The resort said at 11:39 a.m. local time (03:39 GMT) it would immediately shut the main theme park and surrounding areas including its shopping street until further notice to comply with virus curbs.

China COVID curbs hit iPhone output, shut Shanghai Disney

China's COVID-19 curbs forced the closure of Disney's Shanghai resort on Monday, while production of Apple Inc iPhones at a major contract manufacturing facility could drop by 30% next month due to coronavirus restrictions, a source told Reuters. In Zhengzhou, a Foxconn plant that makes iPhones and employs about 200,000 people has been rocked by discontent over stringent measures to curb the spread of COVID-19, with numerous staff fleeing the facility, prompting nearby cities to draw up plans to isolate migrant workers returning to their home towns.

(With inputs from agencies.)