Coronavirus and chloroquine: Is there evidence it works?

Interesting article from the BBC UK https://www.bbc.com/news/51980731#click=https://t.co/Luw62EgTzY

Take aways...

Chloroquine, and a related derivative, hydroxychloroquine, have gained attention - despite the World Health Organization (WHO) saying there is no definitive evidence they work.

There is insufficient evidence at the moment from current trials as to their effective use in treatment of patients with Covid-19.

There are also risks of serious side effects, including renal and liver damage

"We need larger, high-quality randomised clinical trials in order to better evaluate their effectiveness," University of Oxford 's Kome Gbinigie, author on anti-malarial testing for Covid-19..More than 20 trials are being carried out, including in the US, UK, Spain and China

The US Food and Drugs Administration body in charge of licensing medicines in America, has granted "emergency use" authorisation for these drugs in the treatment of Covid-19 for a limited number of hospitalised cases.
That does not mean the FDA is saying they definitely work.

Other countries are also deploying these anti-malarial drugs to varying degrees.

France has authorised doctors to prescribe them for patients with Covid-19, but the country's medical watchdog has warned of side effects.

Several Middle Eastern countries have authorised its use or are conducting trials. This includes Bahrain (which claims it was one of the first countries to use hydroxychloroquine on coronavirus patients), Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia