The State of New York will begin trials of two drugs – Chloroquine, Zithromax – to treat the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
US coronavirus cases have hit 34,000, with New York alone recording 16,887, making it the epicentre of the nation’s outbreak.
In an address on Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo said that the state is implementing trial drugs, including Chloroquine.
Cuomo said that the trial would start on Tuesday.
The governor echoed President Donald Trump who hailed Chloroquine in a tweet last week.
Trump tweeted on Thursday, “HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE & AZITHROMYCIN, taken together, have a real chance to be one of the biggest game changers in the history of medicine. The FDA has moved mountains – Thank You! Hopefully they will BOTH (H works better with A, International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents) be put in use IMMEDIATELY. PEOPLE ARE DYING, MOVE FAST, and GOD BLESS EVERYONE!”
The New York Governor said that the state had secured 70,000 units of hydroxychloroquine and 10,000 units of Zithromax from the Federal Government.
He expressed gratitude to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for “moving very expeditiously to get us these supply”.
The governor said the president ordered the FDA to move faster in disbursement of the drugs and the agency did.
“I’ve spoken with a number of health officials and there is a good basis to believe that they could work.
“The president is optimistic about these drugs, and we are all optimistic that it could work,” Cuomo said.
See tweet:
NEW: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the state is implementing trial drugs in treatment of COVID-19, including Chloroquine: "The president is optimistic about these drugs, and we are all optimistic that it could work."
Trials would begin Tuesday. https://t.co/7iTt3qd1cd pic.twitter.com/X4Phcl2fPe
— ABC News (@ABC) March 22, 2020
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