Professor David Paterson, director of the University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research, told Australian website News.com.au that his team used two existing drugs to deactivate the new coronavirus named SARS-CoV- 2 (not to be confused with the virus which causes SARS), in test tubes. One drug is used against HIV and the other, called chloroquine, treats malaria.
Paterson said the HIV drug was given to some of the first patients to be diagnosed with COVID-19 in Australia, and caused the "disappearance of the virus." The patients have since recovered, he said
