Uganda to start clinical trials of locally made COVID-19 drugs Dec. 15

News Agency Of Nigeria 08:32 - 01 December 2020

Uganda to start clinical trials of locally made COVID-19 drugs Dec. 15. [allafrica]

Uganda is scheduled to start trials of three antiviral drugs developed locally to cure COVID-19, the country’s president Yoweri Museveni said.

Museveni in a televised address said trials of the drugs developed by local scientists will start on Dec. 15 and will run for 40 days.

He said studies on COVID-19 patients treated at home showed that the antiviral drugs kill the virus and also limit the damage the virus does on the body.

“The scientists have told me that dozens of people have been healed by these substances but, starting Dec.15, patients, under strict medical supervision, will have this medicine tried on them,” the president said.

“The scientists are saying that within 40 days, enough patients will have been treated, to convince the other persons, not part of the trials, that the drug works against the corona and other viruses,” he added.

Museveni urged the public not to be complacent, warning that the virus is still killing people.

As of Sunday, Uganda had registered a cumulative number of 20,145 COVID-19 cases, 8,989 recoveries, and 201 deaths since the first case was reported on March 21 in the country, the ministry of health said.