No one in the UK is talking about use of convalescent plasma or anti-virals. Isn't it time to stop waiting for results of clinical trials? There will be a huge cohort of people on whom to test these regimes so what are we waiting for. Better to try these things than wait for regulatory approval and the like, surely??? For anyone interested there's an interesting article in The Lancet. Go here: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(20)30141-9/fulltext?fbclid=IwAR13JFXpdajrW7OvDizSGzhn5iGSjQ8EEt5X1VDz9w4VBoG5KRQVHg-ozfw
Aross
A big thing that can also be done is to get China and other countries that have densely packed wild and domestic animals in close proximity in large markets to stop this practice. They appear to be the breading grounds for these new and dangerous viruses.
Axel
I think this article merits examination. https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/17/a-fiasco-in-the-making-as-the-coronavirus-pandemic-takes-hold-we-are-making-decisions-without-reliable-data/ It examines the available statistics, and questions that they justify the extreme measures of social distancing and lockdown. In addition, there is the fear that infections will simply increase when the extreme measures are relaxed. Hence the suggestion that they must remain until a vaccine has been developed. Can they be maintained for at least 12 months? Are the extreme measures justified in relation to the likely severity of the economic damage?
RangerJones
Not quite sure where you're going with Chloroquine, a malaria treatment...?...But it would be detrimental to anyone with any danger of lung problems as it can cause bronchospasms, and that would bout do it for ya at that point.
Kpar
KeithW, you are on the money on convalescent plasma- a procedure used for almost a hundred years. It has received scant mention here in the USA, as well.
Daishi
The virus is terrible but I'm curious what will be left of the economy and the world after we are done putting the whole world on house arrest for 18 more months. Families are separated etc. This will be hard and for all of the effort we still won't stop the virus. Maybe we need to put more work into scaling up medical facilities instead of scaling down the rest of the world. There aren't enough Ventilators for the people that need them so why hasn't government ordered private sector companies to manufacture more of them like they do with weapons in time of war? They should have been given contracts and begun tooling months ago. Hospitals should have started standing up new facilities when they saw Wuhan needing to build 2 new hospitals in a week. Certainly if it's a big enough deal to put the entire world on hold it's important enough to put these things in motion before now.. right?
Theodore41
@Aross. They are forbidden in China now.Strictly.
KeithW
Theodore41 - I've read that this ban in China is widely being ignored. It's been in force for a while now, since the last nasty little virus emerged from this part of the world - the original SARS. Despite the totalitarian approach of the Chinese state it is clear that they don't have as much social control as they would like to think they do. How long until the next mamalian borne plague hits us. Not long I would bet.