Scientists reveal possible breakthrough

DRUG PROVES EFFECTIVE AGAINST VIRUS AS ECONOMIC DAMAGE RISES

Scientists on Wednesday announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus — an experimental drug that can speed the recovery of

COVID-19 patients — in a major medical advance that came as the economic gloom caused by the scourge deepened in the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S. government said it is working to make the antiviral medication remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible.

“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectiousdisease expert. “This will be the standard of care.”

Stocks surged around the world on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 530 points on the day, or over two per cent.

Still, word of the new drug came as the U.S. government reported that American economic output is shrivelling in the biggest and fastest collapse since the Depression. The virus has killed over 220,000 people worldwide, including more than 60,000 confirmed deaths in the U.S., and led to lockdowns and other restrictions that have closed factories and other businesses around the globe.

The U.S. said its gross domestic product, or output of goods and services, shrank at an annual rate of 4.8 per cent in the January-March period, the sharpest quarterly drop since the global financial meltdown of more than a decade ago.

And the worst is yet to come: The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the GDP of the world’s biggest economy will plunge at a 40 per cent annual rate during the three-month period that ends in June.

The latest figures on people applying for unemployment benefits in the U.S. come out today, with economists estimating perhaps one in six American workers, or nearly 30 million people, have lost their jobs over the past six weeks.

The U.S. unemployment rate for April will be released at the end of next week, and economists have said it could range as high as 20 per cent — a level last seen during the Depression.