A new study led by the University of Oxford will test whether anti-malarial drugs chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine can prevent coronavirus infections in frontline healthcare workers in the UK.
Both drugs have been advocated by President Donald Trump as being helpful in preventing infections. Trump revealed this week that he has been taking chloroquine.
Mainstream media in April lambasted Trump in April when he made public statements supporting the drug’s use in fighting Covid-19.
Now a double blind study led by Oxford University in the United Kingdom and supported by Mahidol University in Thailand will determine if the drugs are applicable in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
“We really do not know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are beneficial or harmful against COVID-19. The best way to find out if they are effective in preventing COVID-19 is in a randomised clinical trial. That’s what COPCOV is – and why we’re doing this study,” said COPCOV Co-Principal Investigator Professor Sir Nicholas White, of the University of Oxford who is based at the Mahidol-Oxford Research Unit in Thailand.
The study is funded in part by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
