Trump Takes Unproven Drug to Protect Himself from Coronavirus

US President Donald Trump revealed that, for nearly ten days now, he has been taking anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine to prevent himself from coronavirus infection even though it is not yet a proven treatment.

Trump reaffirmed that he was not infected with Covid-19 and did not show any symptoms of the disease.

“I happen to be taking it,” Trump said during a roundtable event at the White House. “A lot of good things have come out. You’d be surprised at how many people are taking it, especially the front-line workers. Before you catch it. The front-line workers, many, many are taking it.”

He added: “I’m taking it, hydroxychloroquine. Right now, yeah. Couple of weeks ago, I started taking it. Cause I think it’s good, I’ve heard a lot of good stories.”

Trump also said that he is taking zinc, and that he has taken an initial dose of azithromycin, or Z-Pak.

At the end of April, the US and Canadian health authorities had warned of the danger of using hydroxychloroquine to prevent infection with the emerging coronavirus or to treat people with this virus, if the drug was not used in a closely watched clinical trial.

However, the US President told reporters that taking this hydroxychloroquine "will not cause harm", stressing that this drug "has been used for 40 years by many doctors taking it."

Trump reiterated that he had "no symptoms" for Covid-19 disease, noting that he was regularly undergoing laboratory tests.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine are drugs that have been used for many years to treat malaria and some autoimmune diseases, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

Trump Slams WHO

On the other hand, the US President slammed the World Health Organization, describing it as a "puppet of China" and assured that he will soon take a final decision over US funding for the international organization.

"I am not happy with the World Health Organization. They are a puppet of China," Trump told reporters at the White House.

The United States is the largest donor to the World Health Organization, with an annual financial contribution of about $ 450 million.

For weeks, the US President has accused the UN organization of not issuing sufficient, early warning about the deadly virus and of blindly following China, which denies US accusations of covering up the scale of the epidemic when it appeared in Wuhan late last year.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo condemned the World Health Organization for delaying a decision to grant Taiwan observer status, noting that the organization's position confirms Washington's accusations that it is blindly following China.

Taiwan has achieved remarkable success in fighting the pandemic, with only seven deaths and nearly 400 injuries recorded, despite its geographical and commercial proximity to the mainland, where Covid-19 appeared for the first time.