Scientists in the United States have had a major breakthrough in the search for a cure for the dreaded coronavirus.
Reports show that COVID-19 patients are responding to an antiviral drug called Remdesivir.
The drug failed spectacularly against the Ebola virus but has fueled hopes of a return to normalcy for citizens of the world.
However, Remdesivir may not be the curse for COVID-19 yet.
According to a study released last week by the WHO, the drug had limited effects among patients in Wuhan, China, where the virus was first detected in December.
But in the United States, a clinical trial of Remdesivir led to patients recovering about 30 percent faster than those on a placebo in the first proof of successful treatment against the disease.
Anthony Fauci, the top US epidemiologist who oversaw the study, said to reporters, “The data shows that Remdesivir has a clear-cut significant positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery.”
Fauci compared the finding to the first retrovirals that worked, albeit with modest success, against HIV in the 1980s.
The fatalities from the COVID-19 pandemic in the US soared past 60,000 on Wednesday, and senor WHO Official Michael Ryan declined to weigh in on the latest findings, stating that he not reviewed the complete study.
His statement:
We are all hoping – fervently hoping – that one or more of the treatments currently under observation and under trial will result in altering clinical outcomes and reducing deaths.”
The WHO emergency committee is meeting today for the first time in three months to discuss the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic.
