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Sitting behind his desk in a hospital in the southern French city of Marseille, Didier Raoult has convinced thousands, including the U.S. president, that a common antimalarial drug can save people infected by Covid-19. In a few short weeks, the controversial microbiologist has become France’s best-known doctor after announcing the coronavirus “endgame” on Youtube. (Braun, 3/30)

President Donald Trump made another series of inaccurate and misleading statements during his coronavirus press briefing Monday afternoon from the White House Rose Garden. Trump inaccurately characterized previous statements he has made downplaying the severity of the crisis. He again talked up medications that have not been clinically proven safe or effective for use against the coronavirus. Immediately after boasting about having superior knowledge of South Korea, he misstated the population of Seoul. And in touting progress on coronavirus testing, he omitted important context. (Dale and Cohen, 3/30)

In a new frontier to fight COVID-19, Bay Area researchers are racing to develop new blood tests that can not only help diagnose the disease, but could help determine whether people become immune after catching it and lay the groundwork for a vaccine. Scientists at UCSF and the San Francisco Vitalant Research Institute are among several across the country developing tests. UCSF hopes to start using its test as early as this week, although it won’t be widely available to the public. (Moench, 3/30)