Dr. Fauci on remdesivir: 'What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus'

WASHINGTON (SBG) — Tough news Wednesday on the financial front as the United States economy shrank 4.8% in the year's first quarter. This wasn't unexpected, but many worry this is just the leading edge of the downturn. But President Donald Trump downplayed the news and compared it to what he sees for the future.

“If you’d have said we’d been at 24,000 with what we’ve gone through as a country, John Bel, it’s pretty amazing, and I think it’s been one of the best weeks in the stock market,” he said today at the White House while visiting with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards.

There's also big news on the medical front. The antiviral drug remdesivir, which is being tested on infected patients at hospitals, saw recovery time, on average, shrink from 15 to 11 days.

“Although a 31% improvement doesn’t seem like a knock out 100%, it is a very important proof of concept because what it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci explained Wednesday.

While still early on, Fauci said the data is promising and the Food and Drug Administration will be examining it for wider use. “It was reminiscent of 34 years ago in 1986 when we were struggling for drugs with HIV and we had nothing," he said. "Building on that every year after, we did better and better." He also said the FDA is working expeditiously on approval to get it out to market and make it available to those who need it. But a date can't be given on when that might be.

Meanwhile, during the president's meeting with Edwards, the governor said they've turned the corner and with federal help should have enough tests — 200,000 a month —to move toward phase one of reopening the state soon.