It's often claimed, for example, in this [Spectrum News report][1] that a drug combination of hydroxychloroquine and zinc and antibiotics is an effective early treatment for COVID-19.

> Researchers at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine found patients given the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine along with zinc sulphate and the antibiotic azithromycin were 44 percent less likely to die from the coronavirus.
>
> [...]
>
> Dr. Rahimian says patients in the more critical stages of infection did not fare as well.
>
> And he cautioned that more research is needed - in particular a randomized controlled trial - to prove how and how well the drug combination works.


Yale epidemiologist, Professor Harvey Risch, in his opinion piece in Newsweek, *[The Key to Defeating COVID-19 Already Exists. We Need to Start Using It][2]* argues that the evidence is sufficient to start using it.

[![enter image description here][3]][3]


> I am referring, of course, to the medication hydroxychloroquine. When this inexpensive oral medication is given very early in the course of illness, before the virus has had time to multiply beyond control, it has shown to be highly effective, especially when given in combination with the antibiotics azithromycin or doxycycline and the nutritional supplement zinc.


What evidence is there for or against it?


  [1]: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2020/05/12/nyu-study-looks-at-hydroxychloroquine-zinc-azithromycin-combo-on-decreasing-covid-19-deaths
  [2]: https://www.newsweek.com/key-defeating-covid-19-already-exists-we-need-start-using-it-opinion-1519535
  [3]: https://i.sstatic.net/1VqCE.png