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]]>The post State sees drop in test results, confirms additional 703 new coronavirus cases appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>MADISON, Wis. (WBAY) – The number of coronavirus test results released Monday is the lowest amount since exactly one week ago.
On Monday, the state released 6,992 test results. Out of those, 703 were positive for the coronavirus, which is 10.1% of all test results. Another 6,289 tests were negative for the virus.
On July 13, which was last Monday, the state released a total of 6,621 test results.
The percentage of positive tests is a slight drop from Sunday’s 10.3%, however it is still an upward trend. Last week, the percentage of positive tests was 5.9% on Wednesday, and climbed through Sunday.
49 out of Wisconsin’s 72 counties reported an increase in cases on Monday, while in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, seven out of the region’s 15 counties saw an increase in cases.
Since early February, 43,018 people in Wisconsin have tested positive for the coronavirus, and another 737,191 have tested negative.
The statewide death toll increased by two on Monday, bringing the number of deaths since testing began to 846.
The death toll represents 2% of known cases, a percentage that held steady since Saturday. On Friday, that percentage was 2.1%. That is in part the result of a growing number of younger adults being infected, who are less likely to suffer severe effects of the coronavirus and require hospitalization but may be asymptomatic carriers of the virus.
22 more COVID-19 patients were hospitalized within the past 24 hours. There are now 368 patients in hospitals, with 111 in intensive care units. On Sunday, there were 99 people in the ICU for the virus.
Out of those who tested positive since February, 4,129 people needed treatment in a hospital, or 9.6% of all confirmed cases.
The state says 9,037 patients’ cases are still active, meaning they haven’t been cleared from isolation. That’s 21%, a slight increase from Sunday’s percentage of 20.9%. That percentage is up from 18% on July 8.
Meanwhile, another 33,130 people are considered recovered, which is a total of 77% of all confirmed cases.
Wisconsin currently has 83 public and private labs with a capacity of completing 24,162 tests per day.
The state offers an online a tool that displays COVID-19 activity over the past 2 weeks for every county, including the number of cases per 100,000 residents and whether cases are on an upward, even, or downward trend. You can view it by clicking here.
County by county cases (counties listed in bold were reported to have new cases):
Wisconsin
- Adams – 52 cases (+1) (2 deaths)
- Ashland – 10 cases
- Barron – 74 cases (+4) (1 death)
- Bayfield – 13 cases (1 death)
- Brown – 3,510 cases (+3) (46 deaths)
- Buffalo – 25 cases (+3) (2 deaths)
- Burnett – 5 cases (1 death)
- Calumet – 188 cases (+2) (2 deaths)
- Chippewa – 161 cases (+7)
- Clark – 141 cases (+2) (7 deaths)
- Columbia – 159 cases (+5) (1 death)
- Crawford – 48 cases
- Dane – 3,549 cases (+55) (33 deaths)
- Dodge – 570 cases (+6) (6 deaths)(+1)
- Door – 74 cases (+1) (3 deaths)
- Douglas – 75 cases
- Dunn – 68 cases (+3)
- Eau Claire – 402 cases (+5) (2 death)
- Florence – 5 cases
- Fond du Lac – 441 cases (+8) (6 deaths)
- Forest – 50 cases (3 deaths)
- Grant – 250 cases (+2) (14 deaths)
- Green – 117 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Green Lake – 47 cases
- Iowa – 50 cases
- Iron – 28 cases (+2) (1 deaths)
- Jackson – 37 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Jefferson – 427 cases (+9) (4 deaths)
- Juneau – 76 cases (+2) (1 death)
- Kenosha – 2,027 cases (+41) (47 deaths)
- Kewaunee – 92 cases (+1) (1 death)
- La Crosse – 674 cases (+7) (1 death)
- Lafayette – 86 cases
- Langlade – 11 cases (1 death)
- Lincoln – 37 cases (+2)
- Manitowoc – 202 cases (+3) (1 death)
- Marathon – 383 cases (+8) (3 deaths) (+1)
- Marinette – 177 cases (+18) (3 deaths)
- Marquette – 58 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Menominee – 10 cases
- Milwaukee – 16,275 cases (+290) (411 deaths)
- Monroe – 165 cases (+4) (1 death)
- Oconto – 121 cases (+1)
- Oneida – 52 cases (+1)
- Outagamie – 814 cases (+22) (10 deaths)
- Ozaukee – 385 cases (+2) (16 deaths)
- Pepin – 22 cases
- Pierce – 128 cases
- Polk – 81 cases (+2) (2 deaths)
- Portage – 292 cases (+5)
- Price – 13 cases (+1)
- Racine – 2,624 cases (+35) (66 deaths)
- Richland – 18 cases (4 deaths)
- Rock – 1,171 cases (24 deaths)
- Rusk – 13 cases (1 death)
- Sauk – 230 cases (+12) (3 deaths)
- Sawyer – 19 cases
- Shawano – 113 cases (+3)
- Sheboygan – 398 cases (+12) (4 deaths)
- St. Croix – 333 cases (+4) (2 deaths)
- Taylor – 33 cases (+1)
- Trempealeau – 228 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Vernon – 45 cases
- Vilas – 21 cases
- Walworth – 942 cases (+40) (18 deaths)
- Washburn – 7 cases
- Washington – 570 cases (19 deaths)
- Waukesha – 2,221 cases (+36) (40 deaths)
- Waupaca – 224 cases (+9) (13 deaths)
- Waushara – 52 cases
- Winnebago – 864 cases (+17) (14 deaths)
- Wood – 135 cases (+2) (1 death)
Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
- Alger – 3 cases
- Baraga – 5 cases
- Chippewa – 21 cases (+1)
- Delta – 39 cases (+2) (3 deaths)
- Dickinson – 30 cases (2 deaths)
- Gogebic – 34 cases (+1) (1 deaths)
- Houghton – 28 cases
- Iron – 10 cases (+1) (1 death)
- Keweenaw – 2 cases
- Luce – 3 cases
- Mackinac – 10 cases (+1)
- Marquette – 99 cases (+1) (11 deaths)
- Menominee – 52 cases (+1)
- Ontonagon – 1 case
- Schoolcraft – 7 cases
Symptoms:
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified these as possible symptoms of COVID-19:
- Fever of 100.4 or higher
- Cough
- Shortness of breath
- Chills
- Repeated shaking with chills
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
Symptoms that require immediate medical attention include:
- Trouble breathing
- Persistent pain or pressure in the chest
- New confusion or inability to rouse
- Bluish lips or face
- The CDC says this is not an all-inclusive list. Consult a medical provider about any symptoms that are severe or concerning.
Prevention
- The coronavirus is a new, or “novel,” virus. Nobody has a natural immunity to it. Children and teens seem to recover best from the virus. Older people and those with underlying health conditions (heart disease, diabetes, lung disease) are considered at high risk, according to the CDC. Precautions are also needed around people with developing or weakened immune systems.
- To help prevent the spread of the virus:
- Stay at least six feet away from other people
- Avoid close contact with people who are or appear sick
- Stay at home as much as possible
- Cancel events and avoid groups, gatherings, play dates and nonessential appointments
- Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care
- Wash your hands regularly for at least 20 seconds. If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol
- Cover your mouth and nose with a mask. At a minimum, use a tissue when you cough or sneeze or use the inside of your elbow.
- Clean frequently-touched surfaces and objects daily (e.g., tables, countertops, light switches, doorknobs, and cabinet handles)
Copyright 2020 WBAY. All rights reserved.
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]]>The post Study results suggest pregnant women may be able to transmit coronavirus to their babies appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Please Note
The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free. For more free coverage of the coronavirus pandemic, sign up for our Coronavirus Updates newsletter where all stories are free to read.
Researchers found the coronavirus and antibodies against it in the umbilical cord blood, breast milk, placentas and vaginas of some pregnant infected women, another suggestion that the virus can be passed to fetuses and newborns, according to results of a small study released Thursday.
Just two of the infants in the sample examined by Italian researchers tested positive for the virus, and both quickly recovered. In one case, a baby tested negative two days later, an indication that the child was already producing antibodies against the virus in the womb, said Claudio Fenizia, an assistant professor of immunology at the University of Milan, who led the study.
In an interview, Fenizia said the review of 31 pregnant women is preliminary and was plagued by factors that make it too early to draw conclusions for use in the care of pregnant women infected by the virus. But, he said, “our study should be considered a ringing bell to raise awareness that [transmission] is possible.” He urged further research in the area, which already is underway in some places.
Fenizia’s group looked at 31 women with the coronavirus in three Milan area hospitals in March and April. All were late in their pregnancies, leaving open the question of the virus’s impact on the early stages of gestation.
The virus itself was found in one woman’s vagina, one woman’s placenta, one woman’s umbilical cord blood and one woman’s breast milk, the results show. Nine had antibodies in umbilical cord blood and one showed them in breast milk.
Fenizia said the results suggest it may be important as the pandemic continues to monitor pregnant mothers and newborns for signs of inflammation, especially in light of the discovery of an alarming inflammatory syndrome linked to covid-19 that has affected hundreds of children in the United States.
At the moment, he said, there are no proven interventions for pregnant women infected by the coronavirus. Fenizia said prevention is the best approach.
In its guidance for pregnant women, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes that pregnant women “might be at increased risk for severe illness” from covid-19.
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]]>The post Early test results of Minnesota protesters show few coronavirus positives appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Coronavirus testing of more than 1,300 people who protested Minnesota’s Twin Cities after the death of George Floyd shows few new positive cases, according to a report.
Health officials across the country have expressed fear the mass protests over the black man’s death in police custody that have taken place over the past two weeks could lead to new outbreaks of the virus.
But those fears haven’t been borne out in Minneapolis and St. Paul, as of yet, based on early test results, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Saturday.
Protesters gather at a memorial for George Floyd where he died outside Cup Foods on East 38th Street and Chicago Avenue, Monday, June 1, 2020, in Minneapolis. Protests continued following the death of George Floyd, who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
DR. FAUCI SAYS GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS PROVIDE ‘PERFECT RECIPE’ FOR NEW CORONAVIRUS SURGES
Minnesota health officials are conducting coronavirus tests for protesters at four sites in Minneapolis and St. Paul, according to the paper.
So far, more than 3,300 protesters have shown up to be tested and of that number, 40 percent — or about 1,300 — have gotten their test results back.
HEALTH OFFICIALS WORRY ABOUT SECOND CORONAVIRUS WAVE AFTER GEORGE FLOYD
The paper reported that of that number only about 1.4 percent tested positive for the virus, the paper reported.
That’s lower than the 3.7 percent positivity rate reported Friday of 13,000 test results statewide, the paper reported. It is also lower than the current seven-day average rate of positive tests, which also stands at 3.7 percent.
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Kris Ehresmann, state Department of Health director of infectious disease, said there were not enough results to draw firm conclusions about the impact of the mass gatherings on Minnesota’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the paper.
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“Our testing is a bit pre-emptive, if you will,” Ehresmann said. “It is a different situation.”
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]]>The post Early test results show only a few Minnesota protesters got coronavirus appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>June 15, 2020 | 12:09pm | Updated June 15, 2020 | 1:20pm
Protesters march from the governor’s mansion to the state Capitol on June 1, 2020, in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Stephen Maturen/Getty Images
Only 1.4 percent of George Floyd protesters in Minnesota have tested positive for coronavirus since participating in the demonstrations, according to a new report.
The early data comes from about 1,300 tests completed from around 3,300 protesters who visited one of the four testing sites last week in St. Paul and Minneapolis, the Pioneer Press reported.
Health officials said it’s too early to say whether the virus spread at the demonstrations or if people were already sick.
But the rate is significantly lower than 3.7 percent — the seven-day average of positive tests across the state, the report said.
Minnesota officials have encouraged anyone who has attended the protests or other related events to get tested, regardless of whether they present symptoms, Michigan Public Radio reported.
“If you were involved in any of the mass gatherings — the protests, the vigils, the neighborhood cleanups, providing food, water, etc. — we really encourage you to get free testing at one of these community sites,” state Health Commissioner Jan Malcolm said.
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]]>The post Primary results: Highlights from a messy election night in Georgia and 4 other states appeared first on Virus Reports.
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]]>The post Live results: California’s 25th district’s special election to fill Katie Hill’s seat appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>A special election to fill the US House of Representatives seat left vacant by former California Democratic Rep. Katie Hill’s resignation is being held Tuesday, May 12.
The race, considered a toss-up by Cook Political Report, is being closely watched in part because of the circumstances that led to Hill’s leaving Congress and in part because the race is widely seen as previewing how the coronavirus pandemic will affect November’s elections. It also represents an opportunity for the Republican Party to retake one of the seats Democrats successfully flipped in the 2018 midterms.
Whoever wins the race — either Democrat Christy Smith or Republican Mike Garcia — will serve out the remaining eight months of Hill’s term. Smith and Garcia will face off again in November in this year’s general election race.
Polls close at 11 pm ET. Vox has live results in partnership with Decision Desk. However, because the race will largely be conducted via mail-in voting, it may take several days for a winner to emerge.
Hill became California District 25’s US representative in 2018 after defeating ardent Trump ally former Rep. Steve Knight by less than 3 percent in 2018. She resigned from Congress last October after nude photographs of her were released by conservative blog RedState and after she admitted to having a consensual relationship with a staff member.
Although polling of Tuesday’s race has far been fairly sparse, what surveys are available show a race that is extremely close.
A poll of 500 of the district’s likely voters conducted by 1892 Polling in mid-March showed Garcia, a former fighter pilot, with 43 percent support to the 39 percent support for Smith — currently a California state representative — with 10 percent of likely voters undecided. Given that the poll’s margin of error is 4.38 percent, Smith could have actually been in the lead.
That poll was taken before California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a shelter-at-home order on March 19, forcing both campaigns to abandon traditional retail politicking techniques like door-knocking, in-person meet-and-greets, and fundraising events. What effect that has had on polling is not clear, and it also is not clear what effect reduced in-person voting will have.
While Newsom issued an executive order Friday ordering mail-in ballots for November’s general election to be sent to all registered voters in the state, Tuesday’s special election will be conducted via a mix of mail-in and in-person voting.
Mail-in ballots haven’t been returned at an overwhelming rate, according to a National Republican Congressional Committee memo, which said that as of Friday, 50,191 Republicans (45 percent) had returned their ballots compared to 39,230 Democrats (35 percent) and 16,528 (15 percent) from unaffiliated voters.
The special election race is a likely bellwether for this fall’s general election
Given that the race will essentially be re-run again in November, whoever wins will likely have a small incumbent advantage when they face off again in a few months.
Because it’s expected to be close, the race is seen as a national bellwether for this fall. With her victory, Hill flipped a seat that had been held by Republicans since 1993, helping Democrats take control of the House of Representatives.
Democrats are expected to keep control of the chamber after November’s elections. But a solid Smith win could indicate that another blue wave is imminent this fall, while Republicans hope that a Garcia win might signal that their party could recover several of the House seats it lost during 2018’s midterm election.
Because of this, the race has drawn attention from national politicians. President Donald Trump accused Democrats of trying to “steal the election” in a tweet Saturday after the National Republican Congressional Committee sent a “call to arms” to House Republicans, asking them to “raise hell” about the race.
Governor @GavinNewsom of California won’t let restaurants, beaches and stores open, but he installs a voting booth system in a highly Democrat area (supposed to be mail in ballots only) because our great candidate, @MikeGarcia2020, is winning by a lot. CA25 Rigged Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2020
Meanwhile, Smith has been endorsed by former President Barack Obama and former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.
And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has spent about $1.5 million on the race, while the National Republican Congressional Committee spent about $1.7 in supporting Garcia. Outside groups dumped about $4.3 million into the race, according to a recent OpenSecrets.org report. Two years ago, Hill spent $8,342,521 compared to Knight’s $2,582,818.
Beyond the partisan stakes of the race, the election is being watched closely for pandemic-related campaign tactics that could be scaled to more national races. The candidates debated over videoconference calling and both shifted toward phone-banking in lieu of door knocking.
“We transitioned from being able to canvass, and stand on street corners waving signs, and going out to events with Mike, like meet-and-greets and that sort of thing, to all phones,” Marian Salazar, a volunteer for the Garcia campaign, told NPR.
Smith’s campaign followed a similar playbook and made sure staffers and volunteers were equipped with pandemic-related resources for those they reached out to by phone.
“We’ve made sure that all of our callers, as they’re reaching out, are equipped with information like how to connect to state resources, the domestic violence hotline, mental health services, or being able to connect people with their nearest food pantry,” Smith told NPR.
Regardless of who wins Tuesday, the two candidates will continue campaigning into the fall to compete for control of the seat for the next two years.
Hill resigned last fall after acknowledging having a consensual relationship with a female staffer
The race, with all of its Covid-19-related complications, is more complicated due to the shadow of Hill.
A Democratic rising star, 32-year-old Hill was expected to defend her seat this November after a narrow but significant victory over Knight. Hill was part of a congressional class that included a record-breaking number of women. As reporter Michelle Ye Hee Lee noted at the Washington Post, she was one of the first openly bisexual people to serve in Congress, and was one of the “Big Six” first-term members of Congress to serve in major leadership roles.
About halfway through her freshman term, however, Hill resigned after conservative outlet RedState reported that she and her husband had been involved in a relationship with a female campaign staffer, beginning in 2017 and ending after Hill moved to Washington in 2019.
The site posted photos it said depicted the women together, with the face of the staffer, who was not named, blurred out. In one of the images, a woman identified by RedState as Hill is nude.
RedState went on to publish texts purportedly between the staffer and Hill’s husband, Heslep, alluding to abusive behavior in the relationship and to report that Hill had been involved in a year-long affair with her congressional legislative director, Graham Kelly, which caused her husband to file for divorce.
Hill said in a statement to the Post last October that “allegations that I have been involved in a relationship with Mr. Kelly are absolutely false,” and that she was “saddened that the deeply personal matter of my divorce has been brought into public view and the vindictive claims of my ex have now involved the lives and reputations of unrelated parties.”
Then, in a separate statement to constituents, Hill acknowledged a relationship with the female campaign staffer, saying she knew it was “inappropriate, but I still allowed it to happen despite my better judgment.”
The statement was supportive of the staffer and featured a request that the public respect her privacy, but also decried the manner in which the relationship came to light. “Distributing intimate photos with the intent to publish them is a crime, and the perpetrator should be punished to the full extent of the law,” she said, adding that she had notified Capitol police about the leak of the photos.
Under Washington’s “revenge porn” law, enacted in 2014, it’s illegal to try to harm someone by disseminating nude photographs of that person without consent, and perpetrators can face up to three years in prison. Such laws, now on the books in more than 30 states, are a response to a very real problem: According to one 2016 study, one in 25 Americans has been a victim of “revenge porn.” (Heslep did not respond to the Post’s request for comment.)
In announcing her resignation, Hill added that after leaving office she would work to stop revenge porn. “My fight is going to be to defeat this type of exploitation that so many women are victims to and which will keep countless women and girls from running for office,” she said.
The circumstances around the former lawmaker’s exit led to an examination of the standards men and women in public office are held to, as Vox’s Li Zhou explained at the time:
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican lawmaker who prosecutors say engaged in five affairs, including one with his own staffer, is still in office.
…
The uproar that Hill has encountered over these allegations serves to highlight the double standard that men and women have long faced when it comes to the treatment of their sexuality: Not only were naked photos used to shame Hill — a tactic that’s leveraged overwhelmingly against women — the penalty she faced was far more severe than that experienced by many of her male counterparts.
This is not to say that Hill, herself, should not have resigned, but that others fielding similar allegations — like Hunter — should have to deal with the same consequences. Another example that’s been raised as a point of comparison is President Donald Trump, who’s still in office after more than 20 allegations of sexual misconduct have been brought against him.
These double standards were not fully reckoned with, nor were concerns that the way Hill’s photographs were disseminated would discourage young women from running from office. But they do mean Hill is not running for her old seat, and that either Smith or Garcia will soon represent the people of California’s 25th District.
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]]>The post Gilead says early results of coronavirus drug trial show improvement with shorter remdesivir treatment appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>Gilead Sciences said Wednesday preliminary results of a coronavirus drug trial showed at least 50% of patients treated with a 5-day dosage of antiviral drug remdesivir improved and more than half were discharged from the hospital within two weeks.
The company also said another trial by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases met its main goal. It did not provide further details, however.
Shares of Gilead were up more than 3% in midmorning trading.
The clinical trial involved 397 patients with severe cases of Covid-19. The severe study is “single-arm,” meaning it did not evaluate the drug against a control group of patients who didn’t receive the drug.
The study tracked two groups of patients who were hospitalized with Covid-19. One group received a 5-day treatment of remdesivir, while the other group took the drug for 10 days. The researchers said more than half of the patients in both treatment groups were discharged from the hospital within 14 days. They said 64.5% of the patients who received the shorter treatment course were discharged, compared with 53.8% of the group who were treated for 10 days.
“These data are encouraging as they indicate that patients who received a shorter, 5-day course of remdesivir experienced similar clinical improvement as patients who received a 10-day treatment course,” said Aruna Subramanian, a lead investigator of the study.
There are no proven treatments for Covid-19, which has infected more than 3 million people worldwide and killed at least 217,569 as of Wednesday morning, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. U.S. health officials say producing a vaccine to prevent the disease will take at least 12 to 18 months, making finding an effective drug treatment soon even more crucial.
There a number of ongoing studies testing Gilead’s remdesivir to see if it’s effective in stopping the coronavirus from replicating.
Remdesivir has shown some promise in treating SARS and MERS, which are also caused by coronaviruses. Some health authorities in the U.S., China and other parts of the world have been using remdesivir, which was tested as a possible treatment for the Ebola outbreak, in hopes that the drug can reduce the duration of Covid-19 in patients.
Dr. Scott Gottlieb, shortly after the Gilead news was released, described remdesivir as “part of a better toolbox” for dealing with the coronavirus. But he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that it’s “not a home run, a cure by any means.”
“It’s not going to be a cure, but it is going to be a drug potentially that if you use it particularly early in the course of the disease … it could reduce their chances of having a really bad outcome,” he said.
Gilead shares have seesawed in recent weeks as investors bet on developments for treatments for the coronavirus.
Earlier this month, Gilead surged after details leaked about one of its clinical trials, showing what appeared to be promising results in treating the disease. The University of Chicago found that patients with Covid-19 had “rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms” and were discharged in less than a week, according to STAT News.
The company’s stock fell last week after multiple reports, citing a draft document that was accidentally published by the World Health Organization, said the drug did not improve Covid-19 patients’ conditions or reduce the virus’ presence in the bloodstream in a clinical trial in China.
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]]>The post ‘A race against time’: Results expected soon on experimental coronavirus drug appeared first on Virus Reports.
]]>The results of a highly anticipated study on an experimental coronavirus treatment for the sickest patients are expected any day.
Physicians leading the clinical trial for the drug, called remdesivir, say the fast-moving pandemic has compelled them to work with haste, all without compromising the scientific rigor necessary to prove whether the drug really works.
Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
“We are in a race against time,” Dr. Andre Kalil, a principal investigator for the trial at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told NBC News. “We’re doing everything we can 24/7 to make this happen.”
Previous research hinted at the promise of remdesivir, an antiviral drug that’s thought to work by blocking the virus from replicating itself in the body. But those studies were either based on animal data or had major caveats, such as lacking a control group.
A study published earlier this month in the New England Journal of Medicine found the drug improved breathing in some patients, but the study was small, with just 53 patients. And its authors did not compare their patients’ outcomes with a control group of patients to know for sure whether the improvements were truly due to remdesivir, or whether they would have become better on their own, without treatment.
The ongoing clinical trial at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in partnership with dozens of other sites globally, does have a control group.
The trial is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. Gilead Sciences, which developed the drug, is also involved.
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“This is something that we have to do as perfectly as possible,” Kalil said. “You have to have reliable data. It’s the soul of the whole study.”
Researchers must also carefully scrutinize any side effects that may be associated with the drug. Mild to moderate liver function abnormalities have been noted previously.
Beyond remdesivir
If remdesivir proves to be safe and effective against the coronavirus, Kalil said the trial will pivot to studying other drugs. The investigators would use remdesivir as the control, and see how well other drugs compare.
One treatment on deck is called baricitinib, an anti-inflammatory medication used to treat rheumatoid arthritis.
“There is hope that this medication can bring down inflammation and help prevent the spread of the virus from one cell to another,” Kalil said.
Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak
A drug that can reduce inflammation may be key. The immune system naturally sends inflammatory chemicals to the site of an injury or infection in an attempt to fight it. But sometimes the immune system overreacts and fires off far too many, damaging otherwise healthy tissue.
Researchers are attempting to find the sweet spot of such inflammation — prompting the immune system enough to fight off the virus, but not overdo it.
Clinical trials for other treatments for COVID-19, the illness that results from the novel coronavirus, have also begun.
Drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals has begun studies of Soliris (eculizumab), which is an immunosuppressant. And Roche is studying its arthritis drug, called Actemra (tocilizumab).
Another drug that has received attention is hydroxychloroquine, used to treat malaria. Trials studying the drug are underway, but the drug has not shown significant benefit so far in early studies.
Indeed, newly released COVID-19 treatment guidelines from a panel of experts within the National Institutes of Health declined to recommend any treatment — including remdesivir and hydroxychloroquine — for routine use because the scientific data aren’t available yet.
“At present, no drug has been proven to be safe and effective for treating COVID-19. There are insufficient data to recommend either for or against the use of any antiviral or immunomodulatory therapy in patients with COVID-19 who have mild, moderate, severe, or critical illness,” the panel wrote online.
Proof that a treatment works for COVID-19 would be a “game changer,” Dr. Michael Saag, associate dean for global health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said. Saag is not involved with any of the treatment trials.
“Once we know that, then we could mass produce it and have it available for every single person who starts showing symptoms, and then get it to them as soon as possible,” he said.
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Erika Edwards is a health and medical news writer and reporter for NBC News and “TODAY.”
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