Latest World Health Organization News

An elderly flower vendor wears a face mask for protection against COVID-19 infection in Bucharest, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020. Local authorities imposed the use of face masks in all public spaces, indoors and outdoors, closed schools, restaurants, theatres and cinemas after the rate of COVID-19 infections went above 3 cases per 1000 inhabitants in the Romanian capital Bucharest. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

The Latest: Romania daily virus cases reach nearly 5,000

Oct. 21, 2020 10:21 AM EDT

Bucharest, Romania — Romania hit an all-time high Wednesday with 4,848 positive coronavirus cases as authorities carried out a record number of tests. Romania reported 37,025 coronavirus tests, the highest so far. It added 69 deaths in the last 24 hours. The rate of infections over the past 14 days passed...

Toby Gregory's yard that is adorned with 1,006 white crosses to represent Oklahoma deaths due to COVID-19, Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, in Tulsa, Okla. Gregory was able to keep up with the state death toll until last week, and then it became too many. He says he doesn't have the room or supplies to keep up with the current death toll, but will do about 50 more crosses. (Mike Simons/Tulsa World via AP)

The Latest: Ireland sets new virus restrictions for 6 weeks

Oct. 19, 2020 8:12 PM EDT

LONDON — Ireland’s government is putting the country at its highest level of coronavirus restrictions for six weeks in a bid to combat a rise in infections. Premier Micheal Martin said Monday the measures take effect at midnight Wednesday and run until Dec. 1. People are being asked to stay at home,...

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Manchester, England, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020. Britain’s government says discussions about implementing stricter restrictions in Greater Manchester must be completed Monday because the public health threat caused by rising COVID-19 infections is serious and getting worse. (Peter Byrne/PA via AP)

World struggles as confirmed COVID-19 cases pass 40 million

Oct. 19, 2020 9:03 AM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across the planet has surpassed 40 million, but experts say that is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the true impact of the pandemic that has upended life and work around the world. The milestone was hit Monday morning, according to Johns...

President Donald Trump talks with voters after an NBC News Town Hall, at Perez Art Museum Miami, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Miami. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

AP FACT CHECK: Trump sees what others do not in the pandemic

Oct. 17, 2020 8:34 AM EDT

WASHINGTON (AP) — “I believe we’re rounding the corner." “We’re a winner on the excess mortality.” “We have the vaccines coming and we have the therapies coming.” “We have done an amazing job.” President Donald Trump sees in the pandemic what...

FILE - In this Thursday, April 30, 2020 file photo, Health care workers look on during a flyover at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. One of Utah's largest hospitals had no beds left Friday, Oct. 16, 2020 in its regular intensive-care unit as the governor declared the state's weeks long spike in coronavirus cases

The Latest: New Mexico sets another one-day COVID-19 record

Oct. 16, 2020 8:09 PM EDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- New Mexico health officials on Friday confirmed the state set another single-day record with 819 COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 35,770 since the pandemic began. New rules to limit gatherings to five people or less, reduce hotel capacities and impose a 10 p.m. closing time for...

A bottle containing the drug Remdesivir is held by a health worker at the Institute of Infectology of Kenezy Gyula Teaching Hospital of the University of Debrecen in Debrecen, Hungary, Thursday Oct. 15, 2020. A large study led by the World Health Organization released on Friday, Oct. 16, 2020, suggests that the antiviral drug did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in contrast to an earlier study that made the medicine a standard of care in the United States and many other countries. The results do not negate the previous ones, and the WHO study was not as rigorous as the earlier one led by the U.S. National Institutes of Health. But they add to concerns about how much value the pricey drug gives because none of the studies have found it can improve survival. (Zsolt Czegledi/MTI via AP)

WHO study finds remdesivir didn't help COVID-19 patients

Oct. 16, 2020 11:47 AM EDT

GENEVA (AP) — A large study led by the World Health Organization suggests that the antiviral drug remdesivir did not help hospitalized COVID-19 patients, in contrast to an earlier study that made the medicine a standard of care in the United States and many other countries. The results announced Friday do...

Gov. Roy Cooper listens as Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services, answers a question during a briefing during a briefing at the Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh, N.C., Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. (Ethan Hyman/The News & Observer via AP)

The Latest: NCarolina virus numbers head in wrong direction

Oct. 15, 2020 6:16 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s top public health official is warning that the state’s coronavirus numbers are heading in the wrong direction as the Democratic governor considers whether to tighten restrictions or reopen more of the economy. The governor’s decision, which is expected...

In this photo provided by the World Health Organization, Dr. Hans Kluge, regional director for WHO Europe, gestures during a virtual news conference at its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Thursday, Oct. 15. The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said the exponential surge of coronavirus cases across the continent has warranted the restrictive measures being taken, calling them “absolutely necessary” to stop the pandemic. In a meda briefing on Thursday, Dr. Hans Kluge warned that even more drastic steps might be needed in such “unprecedented times.” (David Barrett/World Health Organization via AP)

UN: Europe's pandemic restrictions are absolutely necessary

Oct. 15, 2020 4:47 PM EDT

LONDON (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said the exponential surge of coronavirus cases across the continent has warranted the restrictive measures being taken, calling them “absolutely necessary” to stop the pandemic. In a meda briefing on Thursday, Dr....

A medical staff takes a swab from a woman as residents line up for the COVID-19 test near the residential area in Qingdao in east China's Shandong province on Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. Authorities in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao said Tuesday that they have completed coronavirus tests on more than 3 million people following the country's first reported local outbreak of the virus in nearly two months. (Chinatopix ia AP)

The Latest: China carries out 4.2 million tests in Qingdao

Oct. 13, 2020 9:42 PM EDT

BEIJING — China says it has carried out more than 4.2 million tests in the northern port city of Qingdao, with no new cases of coronavirus found among the almost 2 million sets of results received. The city has reported a total of 12 cases, six with symptoms and six without, since the new outbreak was...

In this photo released by WHO, World Health Organisation on Monday, Oct. 5, 2020, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wearing a mask to protect against coronavirus, gestures during a special session on the COVID-19 respnse. The head of emergencies at the World Health Organization says its “best estimates” indicate that roughly 1 in 10 people worldwide may have been infected by the coronavirus. (Christopher Black/WHO via AP)

AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s distortions on WHO and lockdowns

Oct. 13, 2020 3:50 PM EDT

President Donald Trump is claiming the World Health Organization shifted its stance on lockdown measures to control COVID-19 and has now acknowledged he was right to say such restrictions are harmful. That's a distortion. TRUMP: “The World Health Organization just admitted that I was right. Lockdowns are...

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