President Jair Bolsonaro said he is optimistic about the possibility of chloroquine being used as a drug against Covid-19. In a video published on social media, he said the Army will ramp up chloroquine production—citing it as a “possible cure” for infected patients.
As has happened many times before, Mr. Bolsonaro’s actions about Covid-19 have been based on what U.S. President Donald Trump is doing. Chloroquine—one of the best-known drugs against malaria or lupus and which has been around for decades—has been praised by Mr. Trump as an effective medicine against the novel coronavirus.
However, the U.S. Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has made it clear that no chloroquine-based drug (or any other drug, for that matter) has been approved to treat, cure, or prevent Covid-19. Early tests in France have suggested there may be some potential of using the medicine in treatment, but trials are in early stages.
According to Bloomberg, Nigeria has reported two cases of chloroquine poisoning after Mr. Trump praised the drug.
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