Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has announced that 83 patients at a nursing facility in Texas City, Texas, have tested positive for coronavirus, and 30 of those are being administered the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine.
“As of today, about 30 patients are being tested with the hydroxychloroquine to determine whether it will be a successful treatment for the patients,” Abbott said on Monday. “They are in the second day of this testing regimen that will last several more days.”
“We look forward to updating you as the week progresses about how this drug is aiding or not these patients,” Abbott said.
One of those patients is 90-year-old Dorothy Cunningham.
“That’s my granny,” Alecia Mason said in a KHOU11 article:
Mason says her grandmother isn’t experiencing major symptoms at this point. She and her family worry about what effect this unproven drug may have on her grandmother.
The Galveston County Health District confirmed they did not request this treatment for these 30 patients. That request came from the nursing home and medical director Robin Armstrong.
The Galveston County Health District said 146 people associated with the nursing home were tested; 83 of those cases came back positive and the rest were negative.
A KHOU11 reporter tweeted about the story:
“ICYMI: A 90 yr. old grandmother is one of 30 #COVID19 patients at Texas City nursing home receiving hydroxychloroquine treatment. Family is anxious but also hopeful about the use of a drug experts say is “unproven” to treat coronavirus. #khou11 #HtownRush”
ICYMI: A 90 yr. old grandmother is one of 30 #COVID19 patients at Texas City nursing home receiving hydroxychloroquine treatment. Family is anxious but also hopeful about the use of a drug experts say is "unproven" to treat coronavirus. #khou11 #HtownRush pic.twitter.com/mRMUUZz5mE
— Marcelino Benito (@MarcelinoKHOU) April 7, 2020
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