American media criticize Donald Trump for his statement about the possible use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to help patients with coronavirus. With this message, Trump spoke at a briefing on the situation with the epidemic.

The US President said that to combat COVID-19, US federal authorities created a stock of 29 million tablets of hydroxychloroquine. According to the American leader, the medicine is inexpensive and is available in many pharmacies.

“We don’t have time for reasoning like:“ Well, let’s test it for a couple of years, with all control tubes and in the laboratories. ” What do you have to lose? Accept. It really seems to me that people should take it. But they decide. As well as their doctors and doctors in hospitals. But as for hydroxychloroquine, you can try it if you want, ”said the US President.

Hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine are anti-malaria medications that are also used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases, such as lupus erythematosus.

This is not the first time Trump has stated the possibility of using hydroxychloroquine to combat coronavirus.

“Maybe it works, maybe not. But I have a good feeling, ”Trump said about the drug at a March 20 press briefing.

Following a statement by the US president, leading US media criticized Trump. The New York Times, the Slate portal, and CNN have released materials calling the drug untested and ineffective.

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“Trump is again insisting on the use of untested drugs for the treatment and prevention of coronavirus,” CNN commented on the president’s statement.

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"Trump continues to promote an untested coronavirus medicine:" I'm not a doctor, but I follow common sense, "wrote the Slate portal.

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“Contrary to what experts say, Trump is again calling for the use of hydroxychloroquine,” writes The New York Times.

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“Trump again praises the untested coronavirus medicine:“ What do you have to lose? ”, Marketwatch financial portal notes.

At the same time, media criticizing Trump say that there is no evidence of the effectiveness of this drug in the fight against COVID-19, and reports of its ability to fight coronavirus are based on "unofficial data."

Uncertain conclusions

Now studies of the effectiveness of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are in China, the USA, Spain and the UK. Earlier, the medical director of the pharmaceutical company NovaMedica Zahar Leikin in an interview with RT recalled that the study in France was short and was conducted with a limited number of patients, however, 57% of patients who received only hydroxychloroquine ceased to be carriers and distributors of the virus.

It is worth noting that chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are on the list of drugs of the Ministry of Health of Russia for the treatment of coronavirus.

  • Central Park Field Hospital in New York
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Despite studies showing some benefits of the drug in the fight against coronavirus, Trump's unfriendly American media are still trying to present “his statements as poor work to combat the epidemic,” says Yuri Rogulev, director of the US Roosevelt Foundation for the Study of the United States.

“In this case, the American press uses every possible reason for Trump to reduce his chances in the presidential election campaign, because this year’s elections in the US will be held one way or another. Trump in this situation wants to sound positive and optimistic, while his opponents are looking for flaws, mistakes are what can be presented as incorrect decisions, ”the political scientist noted.

At the same time, there is no single policy regarding chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine in the Trump administration. There is disagreement among the White House working group on the fight against the coronavirus epidemic regarding the effectiveness of the drug.

Thus, the Axios portal, citing sources in the administration, said that the adviser to the US president on economics, Peter Navarro, at a recent meeting of the group said that on the basis of studies conducted abroad, we can talk about the “obvious effectiveness” of chloroquine.

It is worth noting that Navarro's responsibilities include monitoring and organizing the procurement of the drug for the needs of American medicine.

However, according to the country's chief infectious disease specialist, Anthony Fauci, more clinical trials with different numbers of control groups are needed to prove the effectiveness of the drug.

American crisis

Experts note that because of the difficult epidemiological situation that has developed in the United States, the Trump administration is trying to use every opportunity to combat COVID-19 - even with incompletely tested drugs like hydroxychloroquine.

Currently, the United States leads in the number of coronavirus diseases. According to the American Johns Hopkins University, more than 350 thousand cases of COVID-19 are recorded in the country. 19 thousand people recovered, more than 10 thousand died

  • New York City Elmhurst Hospital
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The most difficult situation in New York. More than 130 thousand cases were recorded in the city, the number of deaths was about 4.5 thousand. The city’s medical facilities were overcrowded. Due to the lack of space in the morgues, some hospitals are forced to use refrigerated trucks as such.

In addition, hospitals in New York City are experiencing an acute shortage of necessary medical equipment. On April 5, New York Mayor Bill De Blasio announced that the reserve of ventilation devices needed by patients with severe illness would last only a few days.

Earlier, Donald Trump said that 1 thousand military personnel, including military doctors and nurses, will be sent to the city.

At the same time, democratic media criticize the Trump administration for any actions in the fight against coronavirus, experts say. Even the reception of an airplane with humanitarian aid, which was sent to the United States from Russia, has become the subject of dissatisfaction with a number of American media, Konstantin Blokhin, leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, recalled in an interview with RT.

“If he accepts help from foreign colleagues, then he allegedly signs that the US is not able to provide for itself. If he does not accept this help, then his opponents believe that he is not fighting enough with the coronavirus, ”said the expert.

Despite such a difficult situation in the country with the spread of coronavirus, Democrats and the media supporting them only think about how to reduce Trump's chances of re-election in the upcoming elections, Blokhin added.

“This crisis is an occasion to recoup on Trump, to demonstrate that the US is ineffective with it. However, all Western democracies are extremely inefficient in times of crisis, ”said the expert.

Of course, this crisis may affect Trump's election position, Konstantin Blokhin noted. However, the "nuclear" electorate of the 45th US president will still support him.

“A voter who rationally assesses the situation will understand that the United States and the rest of the world are faced with a global phenomenon, respectively, such a phenomenon is difficult to control on the part of man. In turn, the voter, who immediately writes off his personal problems to the government, will blame Trump in this situation, ”the expert concluded.