After Trump, El Salvador President Bukele Claims That He Too Takes Hydroxychloroquine

After Trump advertising for days that he uses the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a precautionary drug against coronavirus, the Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele has claimed that he takes regular doses of the magic drug touted by the U.S. President.

Yes, the same drug that even the WHO has given up on as a potential cure for COVID-19, cautioning people not to take it at a whim, as it could have potential side effects.

To date, Salvador has witnessed more than 2,100 confirmed cases of the virus and close to 40 deaths, as disclosed by the latest data from John Hopkins University. While the Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has been getting both positive and negative criticism for how he has handled the pandemic and employed necessary restrictions, his proclamation on May 2 that he uses hydroxychloroquine, the anti-malarial drug as a potential coronavirus cure makes him eligible for the latter.

"I use it as a prophylaxis. President Trump uses it as a prophylaxis. Most of the world's leaders use it as a prophylaxis," said Bukele during a press conference. Hydroxychloroquine is a drug whose efficiency as a plausible coronavirus cure is doubted by even international health experts but Bukele promoted the drug during the conference, as U.S. Ambassador ambassador announced a donation of 250 ventilators from the U.S. to the Central-American country.

"Sometimes what's recommended to the people is something different than what's recommended to the leaders, because I have been recommended to use hydroxychloroquine as a prophylaxis and the probability of this harming you is very low," Bukele said, displaying a bottle. As for whether the drug was prescribed to him by a doctor or he was taking it by himself, he didn’t divulge much information.

He seems to be following the footsteps of President Trump who has already disregarded the studies that prove that the anti-malarial drug can be potentially harmful. “That was a false study done,” he told during a press briefing. “Where they gave it to very sick people. Extremely sick people. People that were ready to die. It was given by obviously not friends of the administration.”