At least one person confirmed to have COVID-19 has died in North Korea and hundreds of thousands have shown fever symptoms, state media said on May 13, offering hints at the potentially dire scale of the country’s first confirmed outbreak of the pandemic.

The Parkinson’s Foundation has announced the expansion of PD GENEration: Mapping the Future of Parkinson’s Disease, a first-of-its-kind national initiative offering genetic testing and counseling for people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) at no cost.

Roche’s first-quarter 2022 sales rose 10 percent on strong U.S. demand for rapid COVID-19 antigen tests and specialty drugs but the Swiss drugmaker reaffirmed that a drop in pandemic-related demand would put the brakes on growth.

Fentanyl overdoses are now the top cause of death among U.S. residents ages 18-45, surpassing suicide, car accidents and COVID, according to an analysis of federal data by opioid awareness organization Families Against Fentanyl. To prevent such deaths, FentCheck’s co-founders and a team of volunteers regularly visit a network of businesses in Oakland, San Francisco, New York and Philadelphia to replenish stocks of the test strips.

JScreen, a national non-profit public health initiative dedicated to preventing genetic diseases and hereditary cancer, educates communities across the United States on the importance of genetic screening for personal and family health. JScreen announced their support for National Cancer Control Month in April.

The U.S.Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for a breathalyzer that can detect COVID-19 within three minutes.

The Precision Cancer Consortium (PCC) announced its formation as a new collaboration of pharmaceutical companies with a shared vision of enabling access to comprehensive testing for all cancer patients globally.

The Biden administration faces an April 18 deadline on whether to extend or end a mandate requiring travelers to wear masks on airplanes, trains and in transit hubs.

Genome sequencing group Illumina on March 15 launched a cancer test in Europe that checks for a wide range of tumor genes in one tissue sample, potentially helping patients with rare diseases to be matched up with treatment options.

Top U.S. health officials on March 2 laid out a national blueprint to manage COVID-19 going forward, vowing to prepare for any new variant outbreaks without shutting down schools and businesses and calling for additional funding from Congress.