Any Good News on Coronavirus This Week? Actually, Yes
A positive trial for an antiviral drug:STATnews reported that the antiviral drug Remdesivir appeared to have some fighting force against Covid-19. The trial included 125 people, 113 of them classified as having a severe case of the virus.All got the drug; there was no placebo group. Most were released from the hospital less than a week later, and only 2 died – an unusually low number given how deadly the disease has been in those who get severely ill.
Antibody-rich blood could help protect health care workers:If antibodies do work, and you test positive for them, you may be able to share your protection with several other people. Already, patients who’ve recovered from documented infections are donating their antibody-rich blood to others.Unlike a vaccine, borrowed antibodies from recovered patients would confer only temporary protection – starting to fade after a half-life of about 20 days. Still, that’s long enough to help health care workers desperate to avoid getting infected.