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A clinical trial of a controversial anti-malaria drug is to begin in the UK, just days after the US president’s decision to take hydroxychloroquine was described as “a staggering, irresponsible act”.
At the same time, the UK government has been warned it is running out of time to launch its testing and tracing system and may risk a second wave of coronavirus cases arising.
As of 2pm Tuesday, the UK death toll was 35,704.
Here’s the latest on Covid-19:
Hydroxychloroquine trial begins in the UK
Frontline health workers in the UK will be able to participate in a clinical trial to test if the malaria drug touted by Donald Trump prevents coronavirus, the study’s organisers said.
Testing to see if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine can prevent Covid-19 is open to staff in Brighton and Oxford as part of an investigation led by the Bangkok-based Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU), which is supported by the University of Oxford and charity Wellcome.
“We really do not know if chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine are beneficial or harmful against Covid-19,” MORU co-principal investigator Professor Nicholas White said.
“The best way to find out if they are effective in preventing Covid-19 is in a randomised clinical trial.”
Scientists say the drug has some “very serious” side-effects and there is no evidence that it prevents or treats the disease.
But those running the MORU trial have said chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine “could reduce the chances” of catching coronavirus amid fears of a second wave of infections.
The team aims to deliver results by the end of 2020.
The latest comes just days after the US president’s decision to take hydroxychloroquine was described as “a staggering, irresponsible act that could very well also amount to self-harm” and there are fears his actions risk running down supplies of the drug for people with other conditions who need it.
Trump has said he will stop taking the medication “in the next day or two” when his course runs out.
Time is running out for track and trace, NHS leaders warn
The health secretary has been told “time is running out” for the government to launch its testing and tracing system if a possible second wave of coronavirus is to be avoided.
Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced a testing and tracing system considered essential for easing the current coronavirus lockdown will be up and running by June 1.
But Niall Dickson, chief executive of the NHS Confederation – which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, wrote to health secretary Matt Hancock because his members were “concerned” over an apparent lack of a clear strategy.
“We would therefore urge you to produce such a strategy with a clear implementation plan ahead of any further easing of the lockdown,” Mr Dickson said in his letter.
He said Johnson’s plan to launch the system by June 1 was “very much welcome”.
“But delivery and implementation will be critical, and we await further details,” he added.
New antibody test to be available in next fortnight
A new antibody test for coronavirus will be launched in the UK in the next two week, Sky News reports.The pioneering test takes a blood sample from a patient and examines it for antibodies that will show if someone has had the virus.
If the antibodies show up as positive it will be the first clue in establishing if an individual can develop immunity to Covid-19.
Trials are beginning at four hospitals across England including the Royal Preston Hospital in Lancashire where staff are expected to conducts thousands of the antibody tests every day from 1 June.
Highest daily increase in global cases
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the Covid-19 pandemic has seen the largest daily rise in global cases.
Some 106,000 new cases had been reported to them in the last 24 hours, the WHO confirmed.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressed particular concern about rising infections in low and middle-income nations.
The warning comes as the total number of worldwide cases approach five million.
Lockdown wedding ban leaves couples in legal limbo
Since the government announced the lockdown on March 23, all social gatherings such as weddings and baptisms have been put on hold. And while lockdown restrictions are beginning to ease in England, there has been no news on when weddings will be allowed again.
On May 11, justice secretary Robert Buckland told the BBC he was giving “anxious consideration to the effect of the potential changes” to rules on marriage ceremonies, telling people to “watch this space – we’re working on it”.
HuffPost UK spoke to some engaged couples who are in long-distance relationships about why this state of limbo has been particularly excruciating.
Geraldine Calog and Darrel Wilson met via Facebook last year; their wedding was booked for April 17. It was going to be a simple ceremony in Dumfries and Galloway, with a bigger celebration planned in Geraldine’s home town in the Philippines for later this year.
The couple now worry they won’t be able to reschedule their wedding before Geraldine’s fiancée visa runs out at the end of August, and hope the government will allow small weddings so she can have her spouse visa processed.
“We feel so down,” the couple told HuffPost UK. “We’ve been through a lot just to have Geraldine come over and get married.
“We’re scared we will be torn away from each other. All we want is a normal family life together.”