Closed as duplicate – NV Original here: https://breakingnewsandreligion.online/2020/03/21/fauci-throws-cold-water-on-trumps-declaration-that-malaria-drug-chloroquine-is-a-game-changer/
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
A day after President Donald Trump declared an anti-malaria drug a “game changer” in the fight against the novel coronavirus, the nation’s top infectious disease expert downplayed any role it might play in the fast-moving pandemic and said signs of the drug’s promise were purely “anecdotal.”
On Thursday, Trump declared an anti-malaria drug called chloroquine a “game changer” in the effort to develop a coronavirus treatment and announced the drug had been “approved.”
When asked if the drug was promising Friday, Fauci, standing next to Trump, said “the answer is no” because “the evidence you’re talking about … is anecdotal evidence.”
“The information that you’re referring to specifically is antecdotal,” he added. “It was not done in a controlled clinical trial. So you really can’t make any definitive statement about it.”
Trump then stepped forward to add: “We’ll see. We’re going to know soon.”
On testing, Fauci said it’s true that not everyone who wants a test can get one.
A reporter asked: “So is that another way of saying we are not at a point where we are meeting the demand pressure?”
“The answer is yes … We are not there yet because otherwise people would never be calling up saying they can’t get a test,” he said.
Fauci and Trump agreed that people without symptoms don’t need to tested. And Fauci said even without testing, communities can respond to the outbreak by limiting social contact.
“Testing is important. It would be nice to know. And there are certain things you could do” with results, Fauci said. “But let’s not conflate testing with the action we have to take,” which includes social distancing and washing hands.
Navy Vet