8:19 p.m. ET, April 4, 2020
Trump says lupus patients are less likely to get Covid-19 due to hydroxychloroquine use despite lack of evidence
From CNN Health's Gina Yu
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
President Donald Trump continued to claim hydroxychloroquine has high efficacy against Covid-19, stating lupus patients – who are commonly treated with hydroxychloroquine – are less likely to contract the virus on Saturday at a White House press briefing.
"[Hydroxychloroquine has] been out for a long time, it's a malaria drug and also a drug for lupus …There's a study out that people with lupus aren't catching this horrible virus," said Trump. "Now maybe that's correct, maybe it's false. You're going to have to check it out."
However, there is no "definitive information to be able to make any comment," said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, at the briefing. The relationship between lupus and Covid-19 is currently being studied in "a natural history study," Fauci said.
Trump later stated he would take the medication, likely as a preventative measure, given his negative Covid-19 testing.
"But I think people should [take hydroxychloroquine]," he said. "If it were me, in fact, I might do it anyway. I may take it … I have to ask my doctors about that. But I may take it."
There are currently no products approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to prevent Covid-19.