ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said it was discontinuing its trials of the hydroxychloroquine and combination HIV drug lopinavir/ritonavir in hospitalised patients with COVID-19 after the medicines failed to reduce mortality.
The setback came as the WHO also reported more than 200,000 new cases globally of the disease for the first time in a single day, international media reported. The United States accounted for 53,213 of the total 212,326 new cases recorded on Friday, the WHO said.
“These interim trial results show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalised COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care. Solidarity trial investigators will interrupt the trials with immediate effect,” the WHO said in a statement, referring to large multi-country trials that the agency is leading.
The UN agency said the decision, taken on the recommendation of the trial’s international steering committee, does not affect other studies where those drugs are used for non-hospitalised patients or as a prophylaxis.
Another branch of the WHO-led trial is looking at the potential effect of Gilead’s antiviral drug remdesivir on COVID-19. The European Commission on Friday gave remdesivir conditional approval for use after being shown to shorten hospital recovery times.
The solidarity trial started out with five branches looking at possible treatment approaches to COVID-19: standard care; remdesivir; hydroxychloroquine; lopinavir/ritonavir; and lopanivir/ritonavir combined with interferon.
WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters that nearly 5,500 patients in 39 countries had been recruited so far into its clinical trials and that interim results were expected within two weeks.
Some 18 experimental COVID-19 vaccines are being tested on humans among nearly 150 treatments under development.
Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergencies expert, said itwould be unwise to predict when a vaccine could be ready.
Meanwhile, India took the third spot in the list of nations worst hit by coronavirus. The country logged more than 697,000 cases on Sunday night, overtaking Russia, which had over 681,000 cases. India is now preceded only by Brazil and the US. Brazil has over 1.57 million cases and the US has more than 2.97 million.
India added a record number of coronavirus cases on Sunday. Nearly 24,000 cases and 421 deaths were reported in the country overnight. The surge, that took the number of deaths to 19,700, came as infections rose in the western and southern parts of the country amid heavy monsoon rains.
India had imposed one of the world's strictest lockdowns in March to control the virus spread, but it has been eased in phases in recent weeks to restart economic activity. Mexico's death toll from coronavirus has passed 30,000, overtaking France as the fifth-highest in the world.
Death toll in the country stands at 30,366 with 252,165 infections. Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, according to President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran's total number of coronavirus cases crossed 240,000 on Sunday and a further 163 deaths brought the country's toll to 11,571. Those infected have a "religious duty" to notify others, Rouhani said, adding: "Keeping your infection a secret violates the rights of other people."
Iran's armed forces have also reduced their basic combat training to a month because of the increased spread. Madagascar has placed its capital Antananarivo under a fresh lockdown following a new spike in coronavirus infections, two months after the restrictions were eased, the presidency announced on Sunday.
In a statement, “The Analamanga region (under which the capital is situated) is returning to full lockdown,” the presidency said.
No traffic will be allowed in or out of the region starting Monday until July 20 and a strict curfew will be imposed on street movement by people. “Only one person per household is allowed to go out into the street between 6:00 am (0400 GMT) and 12:00 pm (1000 GMT),” said the statement.
In Pakistan, the 12th most affected country in the world in terms of infections, 65 more deaths were reported which took the death toll to 4,745 and infections reached 231,017.
Punjab has reported 1,871 deaths, Sindh has reported 1,526, KP 1,028, Balochistan 123, Gilgit-Baltistan 28, Islamabad Capital Territory 134 and Azad Jammu and Kashmir has reported 35 deaths.