President Donald Trump speaks speaks on the latest developments of the coronavirus outbreak, while flanked by White House coronavirus response coordinator Debbie Birx (L), and U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams (R), in the James Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House March 19, 2020. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump in a press conference on Thursday said the Food and Drug Administration is fast-tracking efforts to approve an antiviral therapy, best known for treating malaria, for use in coronavirus cases.
The drug, hydroxychloroquine, was developed more than a half-century ago and is approved for treating malaria, arthritis, and other ailments. Reports out of China and Italy suggest the drug may help, but there is no hard data yet.
"We're going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately," Trump said.
The FDA is working to conduct a "large, pragmatic clinical trial" quickly to confirm the drug's benefit to coronavirus patients, said Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn.
He also tempered the president's optimism about the still-untested solution.
"What's also important is not to provide false hope," he said. "We may have the right drug, but it might not be in the appropriate dosage form right now, and it might do more harm than good."
New antiviral therapies face a shorter and less arduous approval process than vaccines, several of which are under development with 12 to 18-month timelines.
"The therapies are something we could move on much faster potentially," Trump said.
He claimed the administration "slashed red tape" to develop new vaccines and therapies.
The president also held out on confirming whether he would invoke the Defense Production Act, which he signed on Wednesday, to mandate the production of needed medical supplies such as N95 respirators and surgical masks.
"If we find that we need something, then we will do that," he said.
Trump repeated that he was open to the federal government buying equity stakes in the airline, cruise, hospitality, and other industries hurt by the outbreak.
The press conference opened with more controversial language placing the blame squarely on China for the outbreak, despite concerns voiced about potentially exacerbating a backlash against Asian Americans.
"We continue our relentless effort to defeat the Chinese virus," Trump said.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is facing a lawsuit from Ohio's attorney general Dave Yost, who said the company misled the public about safety on the platform.
Cases of covid-19 are climbing in the Upper Midwest, Southwest, and parts of the Northeast. The seven-day national average is sitting at roughly 82,000 new cases which is an 11 percent jump from the week before. Dr. Amesh Adalja, Infectious Disease, Specialist, Sr. Scholar at Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss this recent uptick ahead of the holiday season.
Markets were pointing to a higher open to kick off the third trading week in November. It comes as stocks come off a losing week in reaction to October's consumer price index--which showed inflation at its highest point in over 30 years.
Ryan Detrick, Chief Market Strategist for LPL Financial joined Wake Up with Cheddar to discuss.
Harvard Business School Professor Ranjay Gulati joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the massive challenge the Biden Administration faces in ensuring projects in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill are completed on time and on budget.
Jill is joined by Baker Machado to talk all things infrastructure: where will the money go and who’s in charge? Plus, Sesame Street has its first Asian-American muppet. And a trailer for the trailer for Spiderman. Huh?
In this week's Cheddar Changemakers, Megan Pratz spoke with a 16-year-old climate activist Sarah Goody. She is the founder of a youth-led climate action group 'Climate NOW.'
We toss around the term "democracy is under attack" quite often without thinking too much, but one organization is actually stepping up to do something about it. The Fairness Project is a group that funds and organizes state ballot measures across the country. It has used ballot initiatives on campaigns aimed at expanding Medicaid, adding more paid time off, and raising minimum wage. It recently launched a new direct democracy campaign to fight back against attempts to make ballot measures inaccessible.
Kelly Hall, executive director of The Fairness Project, joined Cheddar Politics to discuss more about the group's efforts to push for economic and social justice, avoiding partisan gridlock.
Doug Flynn, Certified Financial Planner and Co-Founder of Flynn Zito Capital Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says he believes the news of the infrastructure bill was already priced into the market and that inflation continues to loom large on Wall Street.
President Joe Biden signed into law today his landmark $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill, and it includes approximately $550 billion in new funding for increased broadband access, improving the power grid, and more. But what does this mean for the American economy, and American workers? Eliza Collins, Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss what's included in the bill, which former mayor has been tapped to oversee how the bill is implemented, and how these new infrastructure investments will impact the economy.
