In Brief: US official hails data from virus drug trial

WASHINGTON • The top US infectious disease official has said Gilead Sciences' experimental antiviral drug remdesivir will become the standard of care for Covid-19 after clinical trial results on Wednesday showed it helped patients recover more quickly from the disease.

Preliminary results from a US government trial, showing that patients given remdesivir recovered 31 per cent faster than those given a placebo, have been hailed by Dr Anthony Fauci as "highly significant".

"This is really quite important," he told reporters at the White House, likening it to a moment in 1986 "when we were struggling for drugs for HIV and we had nothing".

"This will be the standard of care," he added.

Remdesivir, which previously failed as a treatment for Ebola, is being tried against Covid-19 as it is designed to disable the mechanism by which certain viruses make copies of themselves and potentially overwhelm their host's immune system.

REUTERS

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Russia sees largest daily rise in infections

MOSCOW • Coronavirus cases in Russia surged past 100,000 yesterday as the country recorded its largest daily increase, after officials warned that infections had not yet peaked and extended lockdown measures.

A spike of 7,099 confirmed infections in the last 24 hours brought Russia's total to 106,498 cases and 1,073 deaths from the virus, the government's Covid-19 information site said in a daily update.

Despite the rise in cases, President Vladimir Putin said Russia may gradually lift different quarantine regimes throughout the country from the middle of this month.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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Iran toll crosses 6,000 with 71 new deaths

TEHERAN • Iran's Health Ministry said yesterday that 71 new deaths from the coronavirus took the nation's toll past the 6,000 mark.

"Considering that we lost 71 of our countrymen in the past 24 hours, a total of 6,028 of those infected with Covid-19 have passed away to date," ministry spokesman Kianoush Jahanpour said.

He added that another 983 people tested positive for the virus during the same period, bringing the total to 94,640.

Health Minister Saeed Namaki criticised some Iranians for not taking the outbreak seriously, warning that Iran must prepare itself for a "simultaneous heavy wave of Covid-19 and the flu" in autumn and winter.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE