Coronavirus Updates

The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned that COVID-19 patients taking the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine may weaken the effectiveness of the antiviral drug remdesivir.

Sacramento Kings owner Vivek Ranadive said on Monday that the NBA franchise was experimenting with a breathalyzer device to detect COVID-19.

San Francisco on Monday began allowing retailers to reopen in the next phase of easing coronavirus restrictions on city businesses and other activities. On Friday, restaurants began serving customers.

Greece on Monday reopened its main airports to more international flights. Tourists arriving from countries with high coronavirus infection rates must take a test and quarantine for up to two weeks. Travelers from countries with low infection rates will be subject to random testing but no quarantine.

A clinical trial of the antiparasitic drug Ivermectin was recently launched. According to Prof. Eli Schwartz, founder of the Center for Travel Medicine and Tropical Disease at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv, Ivermectin could help “cure” COVID-19.

Shops in England were set to reopen Monday after being shuttered for 83 days because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Disneyland in Hong Kong announced on Monday that the theme park will reopen on June 18, nearly six months after closing in late January.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison is expected later Monday to announce an increase in infrastructure spending of 1.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.03 billion) in an effort to climb out of an economic recession caused by the coronavirus shutdown, the first recession in Australia in 30 years.

Ghana’s health minister Kwaku Agyeman Manu has tested positive for coronavirus and is in stable condition, President Akufo-Addo revealed Sunday during a televised address.

Israel is in advanced talks with the American biotech company Moderna to buy its coronavirus vaccine, which is in the final stage of testing, according to a report Sunday by the Israeli news website Ynet.