The WHO stressed the need to keep up with physical distancing measures and to scale up efforts to test and detect cases.
The World Health Organization said on Monday it had temporarily suspended clinical trials of hydroxychloriquine as a potential treatment for Covid-19 being carried out across a range of countries as a precautionary measure.
“The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the safety data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board,” Tedros said.Hydroxychloroquine is normally used to treat arthritis but pronouncement from public figures including US President Donald Trump — who announced last week he is taking the drug — has prompted governments to bulk buy the medicine.
And neither drug benefitted patients hospitalised with Covid-19, according to a Lancet study, which looked at the records of 96,000 patients across hundreds of hospitals. The decision on suspending enrolment for trials using hydroxychloroquine was “a temporary measure”, she said.The Covid-19 pandemic, which began late last year in China, has killed nearly 350,000 people worldwide and infected almost 5.5 million, according to an AFP tally using official sources.
“All countries need to remain on high alert,” WHO expert Maria Van Kerkhove said, stressing that “even countries that have seen a decline in cases must remain ready.”
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