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US President Donald Trump revealed Monday that he has been taking hydroxychloroquine and zinc daily for more than a week, because he has heard "many good things" about its effect against the coronavirus, but insisted that he has "zero symptoms" of the illness.

"I am taking it, hydroxychloroquine. I started taking it a couple of weeks ago. It is not going to harm me ," Trump told reporters at the end of a White House event with representatives from the catering sector.

"I take one pill every day, at some point I will stop," he added, after clarifying that he was referring to both hydroxychloroquine and zinc.

For more than a month, Trump has been extolling the virtues of hydroxychloroquine, a medicine used against malaria, lupus, or severe arthritis , which has been prescribed for many Covid-19 patients worldwide, but which still forms part of clinical trials.

The president explained that he started taking it because he wanted to, and because he heard "good things" about the medicine and asked his doctor at the White House what he thought, and he said that "if he wanted" he could prescribe it .

Trump stressed that he has "zero symptoms" of coronavirus and that the test is done "every couple of days" and "it always comes out negative" , but he decided to start that treatment because "many doctors and nurses are taking it as prevention." "It seems to have an impact, and if it doesn't, you won't get sick and die ... I have been taking it for a week and a half and I'm still here," he added.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned in late April against the use of hydroxychloroquine outside of a hospital or clinical trial, because of the risk of developing cardiac arrhythmias.

Furthermore, there is insufficient evidence that hydroxychloroquine works as a prophylactic to prevent Covid-19, according to a study published in late April in the International Journal of Rheumatic Diseases .

Trump's insistence on promoting hydroxychloroquine to treat the coronavirus has fueled tensions in his government: Vaccine expert Rick Bright reported this month that he was fired from his job at the Health Department for political reasons, after expressing concern about the exaltation of that treatment.

In addition, Trump's praises caused difficulties among arthritis or lupus patients to get hydroxychloroquine, and in March, a coronavirus patient died in Arizona after ingesting a version of that chemical that was not designed for human consumption , but to clean aquariums. .

The president, who in April already generated controversy by suggesting that injections with disinfectant could be a treatment against coronavirus, insisted that he has not had contact with Covid-19 patients.

However, at least two officials from his environment have tested positive in recent weeks in the disease test, which led Trump to keep his distance until Monday with his vice president, Mike Pence .

In accordance with the criteria of The Trust Project

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