The 'COPCOV' study will involve more than 40,000 frontline healthcare workers from Europe, Africa, Asia and South America to determine if chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are effective in preventing the novel coronavirus. "We really do not know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are beneficial or harmful against COVID-19," said the University of Oxford's Professor Nicholas White, the study's co-principal investigator, who is based at MORU. "The best way to find out if they are effective in preventing COVID-19 is in a randomised clinical trial." The COPCOV team said laboratory evidence showed the anti-malarial drugs might be effective in preventing or treating COVID-19 but there was no conclusive proof. "If, and only if, they are effective, these drugs can be scaled up and rolled out quickly across the world."

Source: bd News24 May 21, 2020 09:22 UTC