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Iran’s health minister said Thursday the country has marked its first day after more than two years without a single COVID-19 death, lauding this as a significant milestone for a nation that long had the highest number of coronavirus cases in the Middle East. (6/2)

The number of deaths from the coronavirus in Africa may fall 94% to 22,563 this year if current variants and transmission rates remain the same, according to a World Health Organization model. The fall in deaths, from an estimated 350,000 in 2021, comes even though as many as 73% of people will be infected. This reflects the less lethal nature of the omicron variant in relation to the delta strain and the protection people have from prior infections and vaccination, the WHO said in a statement on Thursday. The modeling exercise used data from the 47 nations included under WHO’s Africa region. (Sguazzin and Clowes, 6/2)

India reported 4,041 new Covid-19 infections on Friday -- the highest single-day jump since March 11 -- stoking fears of another wave building up in some parts of the densely-populated country that has eased almost all restrictions. The South Asian nation has recorded 43.17 million Covid infections since the start of the pandemic and 524,651 fatalities, according to health ministry data, although the World Health Organization has said the death toll is significantly higher. The daily positivity rate, or the confirmed Covid cases as a percentage of overall tests, stands at 0.95% for the country while the weekly positivity rate has begun inching up, the data show. (Chaudhary, 6/3)

KHN: Why The War In Ukraine Might Make Root Canals More Difficult 

Russia’s assault on Ukraine is being felt worldwide, and the U.S. health care system is not immune. Both Russia and Ukraine are powerhouses in supplying certain commodities — in this case, ammonium nitrate and natural gas. These commodities, after being refined, can produce two gases crucial for the health care system: nitrous oxide, popularly known as laughing gas, and helium. They are used in millions of procedures each day. And crimped supplies could make every root canal that much more painful and every MRI scan that much pricier. (Tahir, 6/3)

When the sirens warning of incoming rockets split the skies, Israel’s national blood bank moves into high alert to keep the nation’s blood supply safe. The heavy machinery for blood processing, plasma freezers and centrifuges are transferred to a basement bomb shelter, a cumbersome operation that takes 10 to 12 hours. That is about to change. By the end of the year, the blood bank will be relocated to a bright, state-of-the-art subterranean facility built to withstand chemical, biological and conventional weapons, including a direct hit from a large missile, as well as earthquakes and cyberattacks. (Kershner, 6/1)