Here's what you need to know about the
coronavirus right now:
'Jump up at any time'
Countries where coronavirus infections are declining could
face an "immediate second peak" if they let up too soon on
measures to halt the outbreak, the World Health Organization
(WHO) said on Monday.
"We need also to be cognizant of the fact that the disease
can jump up at any time," said WHO emergencies head Dr Mike
Ryan. "We cannot make assumptions that just because the disease
is on the way down now, it is going to keep going down."
Vaccine prospects
Novavax Inc said on Monday it has started the Phase 1
clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine candidate with
preliminary results slated for July.
The Maryland-based firm in April said it identified the
candidate, NVX-CoV2373, with which it planned to use its
Matrix-M adjuvant to enhance immune responses.
Adjuvants are mainly used to make vaccines induce a strong
immune response and provide longer-lasting protection against
viral and bacterial infection.
Covid-19 guards
A loosely-knit volunteer group of data scientists and health
experts has emerged in Indonesia's West Java province as an
increasingly important source of information and guidance in the
face of patchy data and conflicting advice from the central
government over measures to fight coronavirus.
The group, Kawal Covid-19 (Guard against Covid-19), also
counters online misinformation, such as that smelling red onions
is effective against coronavirus, and uses crowdsourcing to help
hospitals find protective gear.
Suspending hydroxychloroquine tests
The WHO has suspended testing the malaria drug
hydroxychloroquine in Covid-19 patients due to safety concerns.
It has previously recommended against using
hydroxychloroquine to treat or prevent coronavirus infections,
except as part of clinical trials.
Not for kids under two
Children under the age of two should not wear masks because
they can make breathing difficult and increase the risk of
choking, a Japan medical group said, launching an urgent appeal
to parents as the country reopens from the coronavirus crisis.
"Masks can make breathing difficult because infants have
narrow air passages," which increases the burden on their
hearts, the association said, adding masks also raise the risk
of heat stroke for the young ones.
Cuba's Corona Town
A skeleton reaches up from the ground to clutch at a
fantastical winged creature. A hunched figure wearing a face
mask drags behind it an entangled mass of stricken faces and
lanky limbs. A butterfly flutters out of the mouth of a body
laid to rest.
Welcome to "Ciudad Corona" (Corona Town), a collection of
murals by Cuban artist Yulier Rodriguez in the backyard of a
friend's home in southern Havana.
Rodriguez is one of several urban artists who have taken to
Cuba's walls to express anguish but also hope regarding the
pandemic - some in public spaces, others, like his, in private
for fear of running into trouble with Communist authorities.