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* Measures come after Johnson's battle with COVID-19 * Marks reversal from earlier stance on "nannying" politics * Measures to be introduced alongside broader health campaign LONDON, July 27 (Reuters) - Britain unveiled plans to tackle an "obesity time bomb" on Monday, banning TV and online adverts for junk food before 9.00 p.m., ending "buy one get one free" deals on such foods and putting calories on menus. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has lost weight since he was in intensive care with COVID-19, wants to tackle obesity after research showed those who are obese or overweight are at increased risk of death or severe illne...

Need to stay updated on coronavirus news in Texas? Our evening roundup will help you stay on top of the day's latest updates. Sign up here. Texas reached another grim milestone Sunday when it surpassed 5,000 deaths from the new coronavirus. In doing so, the state reported 1,000 deaths in six days, four days faster than it took to hit that total the previous time. According to state health data released Sunday, 5,038 people in Texas had died from the virus. That’s 153 more deaths than the day before and 1,080 more than a week ago. Public health experts have said that reported totals are likely to be an undercount because not all people who died with coronavirus symptoms were tested. Since July 20, when Texas passed 4,000 deaths, som...

  Existing limited evidence suggests that wearing face coverings to protect against COVID-19 does not lead to a false sense of security and is unlikely to increase the risk of infection through wearers foregoing other behaviors such as good hand hygiene, say researchers from the University of Cambridge and King’s College London. Writing in BMJ Analysis, the researchers say that the concept of ‘risk compensation’ is itself the greater threat to public health as it may discourage policymakers from implementing potentially effective measures, such as wearing face coverings. Wearing face coverings, particularly in shared indoor spaces, is now mandated or recommended in more than 160 countries to reduce transmission of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Worn correctly, face...

Image copyright Getty Images "Buy one get one free" deals on unhealthy food will be banned as part of the government's bid to tackle obesity in England. The plan will also include restrictions on where foods high in fat and sugar can be promoted in store and new rules for displaying calories on menus. A ban on junk food adverts before 21:00 has been confirmed - for the whole UK. Boris Johnson said the plans would help "reduce our health risks and protect ourselves against coronavirus". The prime minister will unveil the strategy later amid growing evidence of a link between obesity and an increased risk from Covid-19. Government statistics showed nearly 8% of critically ill pa...

Demand for COVID-19 testing could soar in the fall with the reopening of some universities and schools, threatening to overburden an already strained system.  Many schools and universities are planning to regularly test students and staff in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19 on their campuses. But public health officials and experts worry there is not enough capacity and supplies to test thousands of people who aren’t showing any symptoms of the disease. “I think what we're starting to recognize is that it really is not going to be feasible in probably most areas of the U.S. to try to put together some type of testing strategy where you're testing multiple times, especially if the results don't come back for a while,” said Dr. Tina Tan,  a member of the board of director...

As early as April, a strange pattern began to emerge in the data of coronavirus death rates: in some places, men appeared to be dying from COVID-19 at twice the rate of women. This fact has puzzled doctors and statisticians, inspiring research into the social and biological factors that might cause such a disparity. This week, a new study published in the medical journal JAMA suggests one possible explanation: men may be prone to more severe effects of COVID due to higher rates of genetic defects. The study probed the cases of four coronavirus patients—two sets of brothers from unrelated families in the Netherlands—who were all admitted to the ICU with severe symptoms of the virus. According to the researchers...