# Coronavirus COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) Thread - 2020 Breaking News **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [February 11, 2020, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758 "2020-02-11T01:16:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 99
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1963 "2020-04-05T04:54:48Z")
Will Donald Trump take his own medicine? [Trump says he may take drug to treat coronavirus, questions states’ ventilator needs](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-may-drug-treat-012119100.html), _Reuters_, April 5, 2020. (Yeah, that’s still tomorrow in my time zone :dubious:) > [@](#): > > WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Saturday doubled down on his support for a drug that is still being tested to treat the coronavirus, saying he might take the medicine himself and encouraging others with doctor approval to do the same. > > . . . > > Trump’s optimistic comments on Saturday about the benefits of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, reflected his tendency to put a positive spin on an issue even as data was still being gathered. > > “I may take it,” Trump said. “I’ll have to ask my doctors about that, but I may take it.” Trump has been tested twice for the coronavirus, according to the White House, and both times the results were negative. I’ve read (in the news and on this Board) that it’s getting hard to find, with so many people snapping it up. Hope Trump is able to get his supply. I think aquarium supply stores may still have supplies. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1964 "2020-04-05T05:04:48Z")
[This article](https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/least-75-000-coronavirus-infections-041207265.html) claims the following: india already has 75,000 or more infections as of right now; The United States already had 2 million infected\* as of two weeks ago;\* 20,000 Americans will have died from the virus by mid-April. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1965 "2020-04-05T05:09:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Will Donald Trump take his own medicine? > > [Trump says he may take drug to treat coronavirus, questions states’ ventilator needs](https://news.yahoo.com/trump-says-may-drug-treat-012119100.html), _Reuters_, April 5, 2020. (Yeah, that’s still tomorrow in my time zone :dubious:) > … Why take it if not infected? 😕 Hmmm. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1966 "2020-04-05T05:09:32Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > [This article](https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/least-75-000-coronavirus-infections-041207265.html) claims the following: > > india already has 75,000 or more infections as of right now; > The United States already had 2 million infected\* as of two weeks ago;\* > 20,000 Americans will have died from the virus by mid-April. The first two claims are not verifiable but the last claim is true and accurate. My napkin math says most likely the US will top 20,000 deaths on 8 April but no later than 10 April. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1967 "2020-04-05T06:47:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why take it if not infected? 😕 > > Hmmm. I think, according to some of the woo going around, it will protect you from getting it, as well as treating the disease if you already have it. The science isn’t perfectly clear :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1968 "2020-04-05T06:56:01Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Well in one of the above posts said they are finding some masks and other equipment right out of the box to also have issues. > > Look, I’m not slamming or blaming anyone. Its just one piece of a larger puzzle that we have hit a snag on and I wonder if there could have been a backup plan? There was a plan, and a backup plan. But Trump disbanded the pandemic guys in National Security, and the problems with the National Stockpile probably goes back several administrations. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1969 "2020-04-05T06:58:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Why take it if not infected? 😕 > > Hmmm. Don’t rule out “terrified germphobe with high risk traits and not a lot of smarts”. ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1970 "2020-04-05T07:32:43Z")
have been reading a lot on hydroxychloroquine, India’s capacity right now is 20 crore (200 million) tablets per month… cadilla, ipca, torrent et cetera are the manufacturers, cadilla said it will increase its capacity from 2 crore to 20 crore tablets per month …if every supplier does it then India could produce 200 crore (2 billion) tablets per month. Fingers crossed… we need to supply to entire world. Trump calls Modi, requests for export of hydroxychloroquine from India [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Y3dzBoDd5WM/maxresdefault.jpg "US seeks India's help amid coronavirus outbreak | World News") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3dzBoDd5WM) Edit: these 20 cr. Tabs are of 200 mg dosage each. ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1971 "2020-04-05T09:03:23Z")
^^If 20% population of the world is High risk (old age person, healthcare worker etc) and we make 10 pills for every high risk person, then the need is atleast 15 billion (1500 cr. ) pills worldwide. Minus China(I think they can make for themselves, they have the capacity), the need would still be 12 billion pills. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1972 "2020-04-05T10:25:29Z")
Modi has banned all [exports of hydroxychloroquine](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-04-05/india-bans-all-exports-of-trump-s-game-changer-virus-drug). ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1973 "2020-04-05T14:04:30Z")
An AP investigation confirms what many of us already know: [U.S. ‘wasted’ months before preparing for virus pandemic](https://apnews.com/090600c299a8cf07f5b44d92534856bc). > [@](#): > > A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers. > > By that time, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for shipments from the Strategic National Stockpile. That federal cache of supplies was created more than 20 years ago to help bridge gaps in the medical and pharmaceutical supply chains during a national emergency. > [@](#): > > Now, three months into the crisis, that stockpile is nearly drained just as the numbers of patients needing critical care is surging. Some state and local officials report receiving broken ventilators and decade-old dry-rotted masks. > > “We basically wasted two months,” Kathleen Sebelius, health and human services secretary during the Obama administration, told AP. > [@](#): > > HHS did not respond to questions about why federal officials waited to order medical supplies until stocks were running critically low. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1974 "2020-04-05T16:06:36Z")
In lighter news, Dr. Fauci is [is getting a bobblehead.](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anthony-fauci-bobblehead_n_5e875c70c5b63e06281d75ec) ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1975 "2020-04-05T16:18:58Z")
> [@AdityanathYogi](#): > > have been reading a lot on hydroxychloroquine, India’s capacity right now is 20 crore (200 million) tablets per month… cadilla, ipca, torrent et cetera are the manufacturers, cadilla said it will increase its capacity from 2 crore to 20 crore tablets per month …if every supplier does it then India could produce 200 crore (2 billion) tablets per month. Fingers crossed… we need to supply to entire world. > > Trump calls Modi, requests for export of hydroxychloroquine from India > [https://youtu.be/Y3dzBoDd5WM](https://youtu.be/Y3dzBoDd5WM) > > Edit: these 20 cr. Tabs are of 200 mg dosage each. A lot of people are staking a lot of hope on something that’s probably going to turn out to be worthless. Yes, we have just begun studying hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus. Yes, it will kill the virus in vitro. But it really just isn’t that promising. These early stage studies non-blinded studies aren’t very rigorous and are vulnerable to selection bias and placebo effect - not to mention that that it’s pretty easy to cheat on them. There has always acceptance of the methodology in spite of this, because normally it would be followed by a series of increasing rigorous double-blind trials. Scientists have been studying the potential of hydroxychloroquine as an anti-viral for 40 years. Nothing has planned out yet. It’s been proven ineffective against flu. It was ineffective in early tests against SARS-CoV, a virus that is very similar to coronavirus. [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/PIIS2665-9913(20)30089-8/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/PIIS2665-9913(20)30089-8/fulltext) Too many of the doctors pushing this treatment seem sketchy and far too eager to be on Fox News. The original French study, which piqued the interest of the right wing media machine, was incredibly flawed. And even that study didn’t show much success for the hydroxychloroquine without the Z-pack. > **[Statistical review of Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of...](https://zenodo.org/records/3725560)** > > The following review has been prepared by members of the MRC-NIHR Trials Methodology Research Partnership. The reviewers are all qualified statisticians with experience in clinical trials. Our objective is to provide a rapid review of publications,... At this moment, Trump is like a stage 4 cancer patient grasping at straws. He desperately believes. Reading between the lines, I’m pretty sure Trump thinks he’s going to be able to give everyone in America a pill and send them to church next Sunday. The wrongheadedness is scary. It’s important to remember that this drug HAS been studied as an anti-viral with no success. ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1976 "2020-04-05T16:30:47Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > A lot of people are staking a lot of hope on something that’s probably going to turn out to be worthless. > > Yes, we have just begun studying hydroxychloroquine against the coronavirus. Yes, it will kill the virus in vitro. But it really just isn’t that promising. These early stage studies non-blinded studies aren’t very rigorous and are vulnerable to selection bias and placebo effect - not to mention that that it’s pretty easy to cheat on them. There has always acceptance of the methodology in spite of this, because normally it would be followed by a series of increasing rigorous double-blind trials. > > Scientists have been studying the potential of hydroxychloroquine as an anti-viral for 40 years. Nothing has planned out yet. It’s been proven ineffective against flu. It was ineffective in early tests against SARS-CoV, a virus that is very similar to coronavirus. > > [https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/PIIS2665-9913(20)30089-8/fulltext](https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanrhe/article/PIIS2665-9913(20)30089-8/fulltext) > > Too many of the doctors pushing this treatment seem sketchy and far too eager to be on Fox News. The original French study, which piqued the interest of the right wing media machine, was incredibly flawed. And even that study didn’t show much success for the hydroxychloroquine without the Z-pack. > > [Statistical review of Hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin as a treatment of COVID-19: results of an open-label non-randomized clinical trial .](https://zenodo.org/record/3725560#.XooCCC8pAgp) > > At this moment, Trump is like a stage 4 cancer patient grasping at straws. He desperately believes. Reading between the lines, I’m pretty sure Trump thinks he’s going to be able to give everyone in America a pill and send them to church next Sunday. The wrongheadedness is scary. It’s important to remember that this drug HAS been studied as an anti-viral with no success. There were few more studies after the original French study which also show efficacy. Anyone interested may look them up online… Coupled with that there are individual doctors and patients with their findings and experiences. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1977 "2020-04-05T16:35:38Z")
> [@AdityanathYogi](#): > > There were few more studies after the original French study which also show efficacy. Anyone interested may look them up online… Coupled with that there are individual doctors and patients with their findings and experiences. Or, since you are the one making the claim, you could … what do we call it again, oh yeah, cite your claims yourself. Also, the plural of anecdote is not data. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1978 "2020-04-05T16:42:49Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Or, since you are the one making the claim, you could … what do we call it again, oh yeah, cite your claims yourself. > Also, the plural of anecdote is not data. > > CMC fnord! > **[Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a...](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v2)** > > Aims Studies have indicated that chloroquine (CQ) shows antagonism against COVID-19 in vitro . However, evidence regarding its effects in patients is limited. This study aims to evaluate the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) in the treatment of... Besides, a larger proportion of patients with improved pneumonia in the HCQ treatment group (80.6%, 25 of 32) compared with the control group (54.8%, 17 of 32). Notably, all 4 patients progressed to severe illness that occurred in the control group. However, there were 2 patients with mild adverse reactions in the HCQ treatment group. Significance: Among patients with COVID-19, the use of HCQ could significantly shorten TTCR and promote the absorption of pneumonia. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1979 "2020-04-05T16:42:52Z")
> [@AdityanathYogi](#): > > There were few more studies after the original French study which also show efficacy. Anyone interested may look them up online… Coupled with that there are individual doctors and patients with their findings and experiences. There are also a lot of people with effectively magical beliefs who are desperate for some sort of cure or control for this disease, whose individual opinions, even taken collectively, should inspire scientific research but should not substitute for it. If you’ve invested yourself in a belief, it’s very difficult to see the situation in an unbiased way. ---
**Author:** ![AdityanathYogi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@AdityanathYogi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AdityanathYogi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1980 "2020-04-05T16:44:21Z")
There is one more french study with 80 patients which also is very promising. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1981 "2020-04-05T16:46:41Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Or, since you are the one making the claim, you could … what do we call it again, oh yeah, cite your claims yourself. > Also, the plural of anecdote is not data. Here is a list of studies which cited the French article; unfortunately the majority have high access costs so are only available to patrons of major libraries and not to the general public (without paying a lot of money). ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758/1982 "2020-04-05T16:47:06Z")
> [@AdityanathYogi](#): > > [Efficacy of hydroxychloroquine in patients with COVID-19: results of a randomized clinical trial | medRxiv](https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.03.22.20040758v2) > Besides, a larger proportion of patients with improved pneumonia in the HCQ treatment group (80.6%, 25 of 32) compared with the control group (54.8%, 17 of 32). Notably, all 4 patients progressed to severe illness that occurred in the control group. However, there were 2 patients with mild adverse reactions in the HCQ treatment group. Significance: Among patients with COVID-19, the use of HCQ could significantly shorten TTCR and promote the absorption of pneumonia. From the home page(red coloring from the original) > [@](#): > > Caution: Preprints are preliminary reports of work that have not been certified by peer review. They should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=98) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/coronavirus-covid-19-2019-ncov-thread-2020-breaking-news/847758.md?page=100)