WHO expects first results from Covid drug trials within 2 weeks

Fresh cases breached the 20,000-mark in the last 24 hours with total cases rising to over 6,25,000 in India on Friday. 18,213 patients have died to the coronavirus in India, while the global death toll is over 5 lakh now. Stay here for all live updates.

The World Health Organization expects initial results within two weeks from clinical trials it is conducting of drugs that might be effective in treating COVID-19 patients, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news briefing on Friday.

Mike Ryan, head of the WHO’s emergencies programme, said it would be unwise to predict when a COVID-19 vaccine could be ready for mass distribution. While a vaccine candidate might show its effectiveness by year’s end, the question was how soon it could be mass produced, he told the briefing.