New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo touted the efficacy of a drug repeatedly supported by President Trump as a possible treatment for the coronavirus.
During a Monday press briefing, the Democrat gave positive feedback on the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine to treat patients diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus. According to Cuomo, the drug was paired with the antibiotic Zithromax at the discretion of the hospitals.
“The tests in the hospital, they’re too short a period of time to get a scientific report,” Cuomo said. “Hospital administrators, doctors want to have a significant data set before they give a formal opinion. Anecdotally, you’ll get suggestions that it has been effective. But we don’t have any official data yet from a hospital or a quote-unquote study, which will take weeks if not months.”
“There has been anecdotal evidence that it is promising; that’s why we’re going ahead,” he continued.
During the White House Coronavirus Task Force briefing on Sunday, Trump announced that the federal government had purchased a “tremendous amount” of the drug. “We have it stockpiled — about 29 million doses. We have a lot of it. We hope it works,” Trump said.
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the task force, has warned that there is no “strong” evidence that the anti-malaria drug can treat the coronavirus. Fauci has repeatedly said more evidence was required before classifying the drugs as “safe” for those diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.
“What we don’t know … is whether it’s safe. I like to prove things first,” Fauci said earlier in March.
White House economic adviser Peter Navarro called for a “second opinion” during an interview with CNN on Monday.
“He has, he can talk eloquently about this. But John, doctors disagree about things all the time. My qualifications in terms of looking at the science is that I’m a social scientist. I have a Ph.D., and I understand how to read statistical studies, whether it’s in medicine, the law, economics, or whatever,” Navarro said.
