New York State is starting drug trials on Tuesday in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo has announced.
Fox News reported that Cuomo said during a Sunday press conference that the state had acquired 70,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine, 10,000 doses of zithromax and 750,000 doses of chloroquine.
Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are used to treat malaria, while zithromax is an antibiotic.
"I want to thank the [Food and Drug Administration] for moving very expeditiously to get us this supply — the president ordered the FDA to move and the FDA moved," Cuomo said. President Donald Trump "is optimistic about these drugs and we are all optimistic that it could work. I have spoken with a number of health officials and there is a good basis to believe that they could work."
The governor also noted that some health officials note that Africa has a "very low infection rate."
"There is a theory that because they are taking this antimalarial drug in Africa, it may actually be one of the reasons why the infection rate is low in Africa," he said. "We don’t know, but let's find out and let's find out quickly."
A company in Israel is stepping up production of chloroquine and an American company is restarting production.
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