Following is a summary of current health news briefs.

Mexico president says COVID-19 vaccine expected to be ready early next year

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador expects to be able to put a COVID-19 vaccine into use in the country during the first quarter next year, he said in a video on Twitter on Sunday. His government has struck a partnership with Argentina and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca Plc to produce a vaccine for distribution throughout Latin America.

LA mayor embraces shift in COVID-19 testing strategy: simplicity and speed

The mayor of the second-largest U.S. city has joined a growing clamor among health experts and politicians for a radical shift in the nation’s coronavirus testing strategy – from an emphasis on the utmost accuracy to a focus on speed and simplicity. The concept envisions mass production and distribution of low-cost, do-it-yourself diagnostic kits based on paper-strip designs that can be used frequently and produce results in minutes, similar to home pregnancy tests. No lab equipment or special instruments would be required.

CureVac doesn’t rule out accelerated approval for COVID-19 vaccine

German biotechnology firm CureVac does not rule out a speedy approval process for its prospective vaccine against COVID-19, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Sunday. The company said on Friday that it expects to put its vaccine on the market by mid-2021. Obtaining speedy approval suggests the company is pushing for an earlier release date although CEO Franz-Werner Haas did not give any details on how likely this was.

Germany’s confirmed coronavirus cases rise by 561 to 224,014 – RKI

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 561 to 224,014, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed on Monday. The reported death toll rose by one to 9,232, the tally showed.

China reports 22 new coronavirus infections for Aug. 16, no new Xinjiang cases

China reported no new local coronavirus cases in the western region of Xinjiang on Aug. 16, according to national data, marking the first time the area’s case count was zero since mid-July. It marks a new low number for Xinjiang, which had become a hotbed for the virus as cases surged.

Germany tracks down most travellers with COVID after test blunder

The German state of Bavaria said on Sunday it has tracked down most of the people returning from abroad who tested positive for the coronavirus but were not told about it in a debacle that embarrassed a possible successor to Chancellor Angela Merkel. Bavaria said in a statement that it had found 903 of the 949 people who tested positive out of a total of 44,000 travellers returning to the country, while it could not locate personal data for 46 of the positive tests.

China grants country’s first COVID-19 vaccine patent to CanSino – state media

China’s vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc has won a patent approval from Beijing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCOV, state media reported, citing documents from the country’s intellectual property regulator. It is the first COVID-19 vaccine patent granted by China, state-owned newspaper People’s Daily reported on Sunday.

Britain encourages at-risk groups to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine trials

Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a COVID-19 vaccine trial registry to boost efforts to find a working vaccine against the disease that offers protection against higher risk groups. No COVID-19 vaccine candidate has yet been proven effective against the disease, but around 20 are in clinical trials.

U.S. coronavirus death toll hits 170,000 ahead of fall flu season

The United States surpassed 170,000 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, as health officials express concerns over COVID-19 complicating the fall flu season. Deaths rose by 483 on Sunday, with Florida, Texas and Louisiana, leading the rise in fatalities.

U.S. CDC reports 5,340,232 coronavirus cases

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday reported 5,340,232 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 54,686 cases from its previous count, and said that the number of deaths had risen by 1,150 to 168,696. The CDC reported its tally of cases of the respiratory illness known as COVID-19, caused by a new coronavirus, as of 4 p.m. ET on Aug. 15 versus its previous report a day earlier. (https://bit.ly/2UkMHx9)