Thursday morning 3/19/2020 Trump spoke on the corona-virus task forces latest efforts
Notes:
- President Donald Trump said Thursday he directed the Food and Drug Administration to investigate whether an existing drug for malaria can be used to treat the coronavirus.
- It is important “not to provide false hope,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said at the White House’s daily press briefing on the coronavirus. But Trump has “asked us to be aggressive” and “break through exciting, life-saving treatment, and we’re doing that at the FDA,” Hahn said. Some scientists have said the anti-malaria drug chloroquine could be a treatment for the virus, however the WHO last month reported there is ” no proof” to this claim
- The Food and Drug Administration is trying to clear the way to expand the types of medicines or treatments available during the coronavirus pandemic, President Trump said on Thursday.
- Early trials have begun for a prospective coronavirus vaccine and the FDA also is working to permit patients to have access to medicines approved for use in other countries or for other uses.
- Trump also said at a White House press conference on Thursday that he’d support the prospect of the government taking an equity stake in companies as part of a big stimulus for the economy.
***FDA FAST TRACK
- FDA officials want to expand the treatments available during the pandemic in a way that’s both fast and responsible, Trump said, so that authorities can monitor what works as soon as practical.
- Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the FDA, said he wanted to assure Americans that the agency would go as fast as it could to broaden access to new medicines and treatment but that it remained bound by its mission to ensure that those products would be safe
ALSO REPORTED: Trump was set to speak with governors on Thursday from the headquarters of the Federal Emergency Management Agency as states work out what they need to be able to care for what is expected to be a wave of people needing treatment for the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.
One interesting note :
Trump was asked on Thursday when he thought life would get back to normal.
“I hope very soon,” he said. “We’ll see. This is uncharted territory.”
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