The First confirmed COVID patient in the USA served both as a Commercial and as a Guinea Pig for Remdesivir.

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2001191

The first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 in the US was reported from the state of Washington and published on 31st January 2020, a mere day before the infamous teleconference including some of the biggest names in evolutionary virology; one of the biggest players in this club was Ralph Baric, but unknown to the others except for Tony Fauci. We have Jim Haslam's terrific book (COVID-19; Mystery Solved) and emails (available on the internet) that were exchanged to validate the secret conversations.

The case report makes for fascinating reading. Even as one reads it, you get the sense it's a brilliant syop under the pretext of asserting the importance of surveillance and isolation of the brand new virus, then named 2019 n-CoV (2019 novel coronavirus).

So here is the case report without too much technical jargon. A 35-year-old man recently returned from Wuhan to Seattle via direct flight and reported to a health centre with a fever and cough that had been present for the previous four days. The initial examination done by healthcare workers was unremarkable apart from a rapid heart rate of 110 per minute. His respiratory rate was normal, and his oxygen saturation was 96% when breathing ambient air. An ECG was not done, maybe because there was no breathlessness or chest pain. Neither was a 2D echocardiogram examination performed. A chest X-ray revealed no abnormalities. Wheeze, in the form of rhonchi, was audible over the chest.

Importantly, this man was a nonsmoker and had no previous medical history. The man had not been in contact with any ill person. During his stay in Wuhan, he did not visit the infamous wet market. There are direct flights from Wuhan to Seattle, Singapore, Iran, Italy, and New York City. Swabs sent to pick up the usual viral infections ruled out influenza A and B, rhinovirus, adenovirus, parainfluenza, RSV, and the four coronaviruses known to infect humans. The reports came within two days.

However, within a day, the CDC had confirmed that the man had contracted the novel 2019-nCoV. The swabs taken from his nose and throat confirmed the presence of the new virus by PCR testing. The man, who had been sent home the previous day after the swabs were taken, was brought back into the hospital the next day. Swabs for PCR were again taken, along with a stool and blood sample to detect 2019 nCoV. The stool sample came out positive, but the virus was not detected in blood.

The man received standard supportive care during his stay in the hospital consisting of saline infusion and antipyretic tablets. The patient continued to experience fever, prompting a blood culture. On the 9th day after the first symptoms appeared, two antibiotics, vancomycin and cefepime, were injected because the oxygen saturation level had dropped to 90% and a chest X-ray showed pneumonia in the left lower lung.

A fourth x-ray done on the 10th day displayed streaky patches in the bases of both lungs. Auscultation revealed the presence of rales.

Now comes the kick, or in cricketing parlance, the googly. The authors report that in view of the need for oxygen, the minor changes on X-ray (considered "severe pneumonia"), and positive PCR tests for 2019-nCoV from multiple sites, it was decided to use a new experimental antiviral (never used in humans for this disease). The authors concede this drug was "a novel nucleotide analogue prodrug in development." The brand-new drug was given on the evening of the 11th day after the onset of symptoms.

Any competent clinician understands the importance of administering an antiviral as soon as possible to achieve any potential positive outcome. Tamiflu, if started within 36 hours, may reduce illness duration by 30% and severity by 40%. An independent Japanese study, however, reported abnormal behaviours in 50% of patients and significant occurrences of the unconscious mind on the first day. A Cochrane review published in 2014 failed to show any benefit with Tamiflu for verified pneumonia, hospitalisation, or transmission.

Tamiflu caused an increase in QTc in the ECG, a potentially dangerous side effect for any clinician, especially a cardiologist. Interestingly, I saw a 70-year-old woman with poor heart function just yesterday; she came with the history of collapse a few days ago, and a coronary angiogram done in an outside hospital showed normal coronary arteries. Her ECG clearly showed a QTc of 610 ms, which can be lethal because there is the potential for very rapid ventricular tachycardia resulting in death. I am yet to determine the cause of increased QTc in this patient.

I have digressed from the main subject. We have a 35-year-old Chinese gentleman admitted with 2019-nCoV (now called SARS-CoV-2); he is administered a brand new antiviral drug never used before on the 11th day after symptom onset with absolutely no prior human data. The report's authors report a remarkable improvement in the patient's condition within 24 hours. He was largely asymptomatic the next day; his oxygen saturation had bounced to 96%, and there was no fever. Both antibiotics were stopped in two to three days after they were started.

What was this miracle antiviral that healed the patient in one day, albeit being given 11 days after disease onset? There was sparse data on the drug. A paper published barely 3 months prior in patients with Ebola had documented a death rate greater than 80% in those patients with a high viral load! The mortality with remdesivir was more than 53% overall.

The magical drug used was remdesivir! This matters little because remdesivir just cannot heal a 2019-nCoV patient in one day. This is particularly evident when administering the treatment on the 11th day. The personnel in charge of the treatment surely knew the lethality of the drug. The treatment was done in close collaboration with the CDC, and yet a disclaimer at the end of the paper states, "The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." The appendix provided by the journal includes nineteen people from the CDC in the team of investigators handling this patient; there are 8 PhDs and 8 MDs. The nineteen individuals are undoubtedly from the CDC.

The authors, or rather the CDC justify the use of remdesivir on compassionate grounds. Within a couple of months of this paper being published, Tony Fauci declared that ivermectin would be the standard of care, based on a badly designed, randomised study sponsored by Gilead (the makers of remdesivir). The study did not demonstrate a significant reduction in mortality, but it was notable for significantly reducing the duration of illness from 15 to 11 days. For Fauci, however, this was "quite good news." Fauci dramatically stated, 'This will be the standard of care." His assertions were based on a non-peer-reviewed federal trial done by the manufacturing company.

Subsequent studies done by the French and Chinese did not show any clinical benefit with remdesivir. Neither did the Solidarity trial conducted by the WHO.

Emergency use authorisation of remdesivir was announced in early May 2020 by the Oval Office, obviously in the presence of the then-president of the USA, none other than Mr. Donald Trump, who himself came down with COVID in October of the same year and was treated with a cocktail of dexamethasone, monoclonal antibodies, and remdesivir! President Trump had walked out of the White House with a mask on and flew off to the Walter Reed Military Hospital. Reports indicated that he did not receive supplemental oxygen.

Mr. Trump may have insisted on receiving Remdesivir and the unauthorised antibodies. Astonishingly, he was given steroids even though his personal physician considered clinically that his disease was mild, which was buttressed by the fact that he walked into the military hospital with his thumbs up. I would never administer parental or oral steroids to an early patient with covid who did not require oxygen.

Anyway, the stage had been set with the first American covid patient, who was administered remdesivir after 10 days of mild illness and who miraculously recovered overnight. We still don't know the dose used in the 35-year-old patient admitted to a large Seattle hospital. Reports suggest he got 4 doses of remdesivir in the hospital, and the fifth dose was administered in the White House; he was (or got himself) discharged after 3 days. Most likely, it was the antibody cocktail that worked in his case.

The takeaway message is: it's the markets that run most nations, especially America. You can manipulate the evidence to your advantage with the assistance of your supporters and a compliant media. You can easily manipulate a "genius" and the "best president," not to mention the common person. It would have been beneficial if someone had informed Donald Trump that remdesivir is known to significantly disrupt the ECG, potentially leading to sudden death.

Employing a Chinese American Chinese as a guinea pig is startling; however, the act of repeating the experiment with the sitting president of the United States of America is beyond comprehension.