GENEVA Switzerland
The World Health Organization (WHO0 suspended
trials of the drug that Donald Trump has promoted as a coronavirus defence,
fuelling concerns about the US president's handling of the pandemic that has
killed nearly 100,000 Americans.The coronavirus pandemic has hammered Latin America, with Brazil the latest epicentre of the disease
Trump has led the push for hydroxychloroquine
as a potential shield or treatment for the virus, which has infected nearly 5.5
million people and killed 345,000 around the world, saying he took a course of
the drug as a preventative measure.
Brazilian
President Jair Bolsonaro has also heavily promoted hydroxychloroquine while the
virus has exploded across nation, which this week became the second most
infected in the world after the United States.
But the
World Health Organization said Monday it was halting testing of the drug for
COVID-19 after studies questioned its safety, including one published Friday
that found it actually increased the risk of death.
The WHO "has implemented a temporary
pause... while the safety data is reviewed", its chief Tedros Adhanom
Ghebreyesus said, referring to the hydroxychloroquine arm of a global trial of
various possible treatments.
Trump
announced last week he was taking the drug, explaining he had decided to take
after receiving letters from a doctor and other people advocating it.
"I
think it's good. I've heard a lot of good stories," Trump told reporters
then, as he declared it safe.
Trump
dismissed the opinions then of his own government's experts who had warned of
the serious risks associated with hydroxychloroquine, with the Food and Drug
Administration highlighting reported poisonings and heart problems.
Trump has been heavily criticised for his
handling of the virus, after initially downplaying the threat and then
repeatedly rejecting scientific analysis.
The
United States has by far the world's highest coronavirus death toll, reaching
98,218 on Monday, with more than 1.6 million confirmed infections.
Despite
the WHO suspension, Brazil's health ministry said Monday it would keep
recommending hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19.
"We're
remaining calm and there will be no change," health ministry official
Mayra Pinheiro told a news conference.
Bolsonaro
is a staunch opponent of lockdown measures and like Trump has played down the
threat of the virus, even as Latin America has emerged as the new global virus
hotspot.
Brazil has reported nearly 375,000 cases,
widely considered to be far fewer than the real number because of a lack of
testing, and more than 23,000 deaths.
Chile
also is in the grip of a virus surge, with a record of nearly 5,000 infections
in 24 hours on Monday.
While South
America and parts of Africa and Asia are only just beginning to feel the full
force of the pandemic, many European nations are easing lockdowns as their
outbreaks are brought under control.
In hard-hit Spain, Madrid and Barcelona on
Monday emerged from one of the world's strictest lockdowns, with parks and cafe
terraces open for the first time in more than two months.
Elsewhere, gyms and swimming pools reopened in Germany, Iceland, Italy and Spain.
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