Brazil doctor urges caution on coronavirus ‘game changer’ drug
SAO PAULO, (Reuters) A Brazilian doctor leading a clinical trial of a malaria drug and antibiotic combination to treat the coronavirus urged caution on Wednesday, saying initial results of the drug that U.S. President Donald Trump called a potential “game changer” would take two weeks.
On Wednesday, Brazil green-lighted the use of the related chloroquine to treat the coronavirus, even though its efficacy is yet unproven.
The trial of hydroxychloroquine, which is being led by the Albert Einstein Hospital in Sao Paulo in conjunction with other Brazilian hospitals, began on Monday and is testing the effectiveness of the drug in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin on patients with COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus.
Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro have promoted hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as potential treatments for coronavirus infections as they try to assuage concerns over the virus and shield their economies from fallout of the outbreak.
“For now it’s just wishful thinking, as much for (Bolsonaro) as for Trump,” Luiz Vicente Rizzo, a doctor at the Albert Einstein
Hospital, said in an interview.
“In a few weeks, with a bit of luck, we’ll be able to say, first if it works, then for whom it works and under what conditions,” he said. “I’m rooting for it to work, me and everyone else.”
SANTIAGO, (Reuters) Chile’s government yesterday announced a general quarantine for large parts of capital Santiago after the country surpassed 1,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the outbreak began locally at the start of March.
Health Minister Jaime Manalich said in an address from La Moneda presidential palace that the total ban on movement would begin on Thursday night and last for seven days.
The measure applies to 1.3 million people living mainly in the wealthy eastern areas of the city where the virus first surfaced among people who had travelled to Europe.
As of Wednesday, a total of 1,142 people in the country were confirmed to have tested positive for the virus and three had died, the health ministry said.
Manalich said health authorities would set up a cordon around the city to contain the advance of the virus, although other cases have been confirmed around the country.