Drug proves effective against virus as economic damage rises

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, MARILYNN MARCHIONE and PAT EATON-ROBB

Tobacco auctioneers wear face masks to protect against coronavirus while inspecting crop on the first day of the tobacco marketing season in Harare, Zimbabwe, Wednesday, April 29, 2020. The tobacco selling season began across the country with auction floors complying with strict Covid-19 measures which included setting up clinics and isolation sites. (AP Photo/Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi)

Scientists on Wednesday announced the first effective treatment against the coronavirus — an experimental drug that can speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients — in a major medical advance that came as the economic gloom caused by the scourge deepened in the U.S. and Europe.

The U.S. government said it is working to make the antiviral medication remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible. Stocks surged around the world on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial average climbing more than 550 points, or over 2%, in the afternoon.

“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert. “This will be the standard of care.”

The news came as the U.S. government reported that American output is shriveling at an alarming rate in the biggest and fastest collapse since the Depression. The virus has killed over 220,000 people worldwide since December, including about 60,000 confirmed deaths in the U.S., and led to lockdowns and other restrictions that have closed factories and other businesses around the world.

Amid the shutdowns, the U.S. said its gross domestic product, or output of goods and services, shrank at an annual rate of 4.8% in the January-March period, the sharpest quarterly drop since the global financial meltdown of more than a decade ago.

And the worst is yet to come: The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the GDP of the world’s biggest economy will plunge at a 40% annual rate during the three-month period that ends in June.

Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report.