The U.S. government said it is working to make the antiviral medication remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible. “What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert. The U.S. unemployment rate for April will be released at the end of next week, and economists have forecast that it could range as high as 20% — a level not seen since the Depression. The study was run by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and involved 1,063 hospitalized coronavirus patients around the world. An effective treatment could have a profound effect on the outbreak, since a vaccine is probably a year or more away.

Source: Huffington Post April 29, 2020 20:15 UTC