Mar 21, 2020 - Health

Possible coronavirus drug causes poisonings in Nigeria

Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images

Nigeria is reporting two poisonings from the drug chloroquine, a drug that's been touted as a potential but as-yet unproven treatment for coronavirus, Bloomberg reports.

Reality check: Health officials are warning against self-medicating with the drug, whose safety and effectiveness for coronavirus patients has not been proven.

President Trump tweeted on Saturday that the drug should be put to use immediately as people continue to die from the coronavirus, but health officials stressed that the drug still needs to be thoroughly studied.

Go deeper: Trump touts drugs not yet approved by FDA for treating coronavirus

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Axios

World coronavirus updates: Confirmed cases top 1.2 million

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins, the CDC and China's Health Ministry. Note: China numbers are for the mainland only and U.S. numbers include repatriated citizens and confirmed plus presumptive cases from the CDC

The number of novel coronavirus cases surged past 1.25 million worldwide Sunday, with Spain overtaking Italy as the country with the most confirmed infections outside the U.S.

The latest: The United Kingdom's death toll rose 708 to 4,313 on Saturday — the fourth highest in the world. Queen Elizabeth II urged the country to maintain "self-discipline" in a rare televised address on the virus Sunday, stating: "I hope in the years to come everyone will be able to take pride in how they responded to this challenge."

Go deeperUpdated 8 hours ago - Health

Axios

Louisiana governor says state will run out of ventilators on April 9

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that coronavirus modeling projects his state will run out of ventilators on April 9 and hospital beds on April 11.

Why it matters: Louisiana has around 12,500 infected people and 409 deaths. New York is the only state in the country with a worse per capita death rate.

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Rebecca Falconer, Orion Rummler, Marisa Fernandez

U.S. coronavirus updates: Death toll passes 9,600

Data: The Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins; Map: Andrew Witherspoon/Axios

Recorded deaths from the novel coronavirus surpassed 9,600 in the U.S. Sunday night, per Johns Hopkins data. The death toll in the U.S. has risen over 1,000 every day since April 1.

Why it matters: U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said on Sunday this upcoming week will be "the hardest and saddest week of most Americans' lives" — calling it our "our Pearl Harbor, our 9/11 moment."

Go deeperUpdated 2 hours ago - Health