Although this is not from a fully peer reviewed paper so has to be taken with a lot of caution (especially after the Lancet retraction debacle on hydroxychloroquine), this could be way more encouraging than remdesivir because it was conclusive enough to actually reduced mortality instead of simply reducing hospital stay duration.
And more importantly, it’s dirt cheap at less than $10 per patient (at least until pharma companies jack up prices 2000%), is available in large supplies, and it’s very easy to administer (orally or parenterally) unlike remdesivir which is a totally new drug with a price likely to be much much higher since it was just developed.
I just hope it’s not false positive results that will soon be confirmed by other trials and analysis of the full paper. But it’s fascinating how it seems to confirm that COVID-19 worst cases may be due to over-active immune systems. This Nature article has a bit more details on the findings (and possibly less bias than a BBC article).
Even so, it’s not the full solution to COVID-19, only possibly part of it. It did nothing to prevent evolution of mild cases to severe cases requiring oxygen/respirator, and while it cut the death rate of those on respirators by 1/3rd, that still leaves tons more dying to COVID-19, not to mention the long-term issues that seem to show up for patients having recovered (a bit similar to SARS and MERS survivors). So yeah a vaccine and some drugs to treat mild cases are still very much needed. But hey you have to take every small bit of good news.
I think theres about no chance that they’d jack up prices like that on such a drug in this situation in this environment.
Everyones watching everything about any drug related to covid like a hawk. If they try to gouge us on such a drug right now they’d get flogged alive for it. Possibly literally.
Nice graphs on how the speed and strictness of responses by country have played out during the pandemic.
https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2020-swift-covid-19-lockdowns-more-effective/
I don’t think “slow and weak” is how any of us should ever want to see the USA described.
The best 2nd wave management discussion isn’t too relevant when we never moved past a first wave.
The president sums up our response to the virus.
Update
I ended up buying the oranges and bananas, too. Both items arrived yesterday via UPS.
It is clear to me the fruit was in good, first class condition at time shipment was dispatched in Indiana. The oranges are Sunkist navals, nice ones. The bananas are Dole and they are (or at least they were) very good.
Unfortunately Staples decided to ship with UPS instead of with FedEx ground. UPS has the big BROWN delivery vehicles. FedEX ground vehicles are white in color, a far better color choice in warm, sunny circumstances.
So both the oranges and bananas arrived warm to the touch. Several of the bananas were already partially rotted. I cut off that part and, using two bananas to make one, was able to prepare a rather good tasting apple and banana salad for dinner last night. The apples are mine, picked last November from my own trees and stored with great care.
The oranges, while warm, showed no sign of rot. I rushed them into refrigeration. So was damage done by the heat? Only time will tell. Bottom line:
Since it appears the pandemic will be with us into the foreseeable future, I can recommend Staples fruits commencing whenever the cooler weather asserts itself later this year. If you go with Staples during the summer, though, you will be rolling the dice for certain.
Update
Ate the first orange for breakfast. It was sweet and good. Am hoping for the best with the remaining eleven oranges.
President Trump’s West Point commencement address is one of the best he has delivered thus far . . . . which is why nobody has heard it.
Instead, Trump haters like yourself and the American mainstream media propaganda arm of the DNC focus on Trump taking a drink of water and walking up and down a slippery ramp.
Honestly if Trump cured cancer you would assert he did it solely to garner votes. You people, all of you, are truly sick.
Don’t you just love to show the photo of our POTUS walking carefully down that ramp? yah hoo !! Right up your ally. 
I’ve been in that same situation trying to walk down a wet, slippery slope in high heels. Better to be easy going always… 
I also don’t see the point of those pictures. FDR had serious handicap issues to say the least and is one of the more respected POTUS in our history. Physical abilities have nothing to do with leadership. And anyone giving a speech would have water on hand.
Finding fault with even the most innocuous thing Trump does comes across to me as childish. All the more that there is some very legitimate blame otherwise to be handed behind the sluggish chaotic clusterfuck response of our administration including Azar and the CDC to COVID-19.
Back to the graphs, I found it interesting that after 60 days, the fast & strong and fast & weak responses more or less end up in the same place in terms of cases. Clearly slow response was the worst kind either way and I hope we learned enough that we’ll not redo the denial/downplay/underestimate debacle of Jan/Feb 2020 in case of a potential second wave.
Trump has made it an issue. Attacking Hillary for “health” issues, attacking Biden. He’s even attacked a reporter with Asperger’s, making fun of the ticks. Trump being old and frail (and with obvious cognitive degeneration) is clearly relevant to an ability to “serve” a second term if elected, as well as in any ability to react to events such as the pandemic.
It’s likely he had some major health event when they rushed him to an unscheduled visit to Walter Reed. I’m guessing some minor stroke.
Yes making fun of people or health problems is childish.
But Republicans are hypocritical to get mad though if they stand by while Trump himself has set the bar awfully low as far as what is civil discourse though.
However, the health of the sitting President of the USA is valid news.
This stuff is halfway between or a little of both. Its potentially concerning if our president shows signs of poor mobility potentially due to his age or some other impairment. Likewise its concerning if Hillary has a fainting spell too. Neither episodes are worthy of mocking or the amount of press attention they get.
Cool! There’s an emoticon just for red blooded Texans like me. I’ll take that as a compliment from a lefty (or… I don’t know… ‘squiggly’?) Trump worshipper any day.
The thin skin of Trump and minions is also characteristically weak. He (and all the thin skinned Trump apologists) really shouldn’t dish it as he
clearly can’t take it. AFAIK the Twitter rant about the slip and slide (that he also lied he ran down the last 10 feet) came before it even circulated.
Did you want him to come right out and say she is a lush?
Even when Trump is being polite you criticize him.
That’s a fair point but you can report the fact without making fun of it. That’s where it crosses the line for me.
It’s also somewhat fair to say Trump invited this onto himself. He’s not been shy about using demeaning nicknames for opponents based on health, character, physique, etc… But still claiming that you did it to him because he started it first, is what you tell your kids is not an excuse to misbehave. I just find it sad that this is the level of politics that seem to resonate with many people these days.
No way !!! I love Texas, & “say it isn’t true” Bend3R.
A second Chinese substandard mask importer charged in the US.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-files-charges-against-chinese-mask-manufacturer-11592446407
Federal prosecutors accused a Chinese manufacturer of selling 140,000 defective masks to a U.S. distributor, the latest case brought against a company for allegedly selling substandard products that could put wearers at risk amid the coronavirus pandemic.
According to tests conducted by the main U.S. mask regulator, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, the masks had filtration efficiency of 22%, well below the 95% filtration called for in N95 masks.
Many of these institutions bought N95-style masks from abroad produced by unproven foreign manufacturers that later turned out to be low-quality when tested. Earlier this month prosecutors charged a different mask maker with selling masks that falsely claimed to be N95 respirators.
Thats a vile way to make a buck. I wonder if it was just awful quality control or intentional fraud.
Hopefully the masks weren’t being used in hospitals or such where its more vital.
(I didn’t read the whole paywall WSJ article)