While we worry about drugs, some can’t even wash their hands

COVID-19 has uncovered serious global shortages in healthcare.

The lack of ICU beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment has been a constant, and frustrating, tale throughout the crisis so far.

And now drugs to treat the virus are also in danger of becoming scarce.

The US has a three-month monopoly on the drug remdesivir that has been shown in three randomised control trials to improve clinical outcomes for relatively mildly affected patients.1