The feeling of dread keeps rising. The internet is breaking down. Life, as we know it is nearing a destabilizing breakdown and Covid-19 still looms over our heads at every passing hour. You might have read that slightly fictionalized illustration of how Covid-19 spreads in the New York Mag or watched videos of affected persons sharing their experience, or even read threads upon Twitter threads of people who’d just tested positive to the virus. We are all trying not to freak out. And we are all discovering extremely important sides to our humanities as a global community facing, one unmoving challenge.

Hey America, just saying

$58 for a Test Kit.
$75 to administer test.
$390 to interpret test.

Vs. Prevention. $3#Hydroxychloroquine

Existing Malaria drugs that keep the virus from replicating.

$0.15 per pill. X 2 per day * 10 days. pic.twitter.com/Tyx7D7JkNn

— Evin Enry (@TulliiLLC) March 19, 2020

It is all devasting to bear witness to and especially nerve-racking to know that it has settled here in Nigeria, with up to 12 cases reported across Lagos and Ondo state as of yesterday. While we try to wash our hands, avoid bodily contact as much as possible, create memes and jump on #StayAtHomeChallenge, a new possible cure; Hydroxycholroquine or Chloroquine, which has been shown to be effective in the treatment of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) is raising hopes.

France has shown that 100% of patients that received a combination of HCQ and Azithromycin tested negative and were virologically cured within 6 days of treatment.#hydroxychloroquine and #chloroquine effective antiviral therapeutic treatments for novel #coronavirus.

— Evin Enry (@TulliiLLC) March 19, 2020

Yes, it does seem unlikely that a drug developed primarily to cure malaria, and one that has been around for a while would be helpful in battling a new, relatively complex virus as the Covid-19. According to a report from ABC News, “Both the virus that causes SARS and the virus responsible for COVID-19 belong to the same overarching family of coronaviruses. Researchers in China discovered that the protein spikes on the surface of the COVID-19 virus are similar to the protein spikes found on the surface of the SARS virus.”

Currently, its viability is still being vetted, and it is not certain how long it will take, we are all still waiting on top scientists to verify our suspicions and possibly reignite some hope. But until then, we will continue to wash our hands, observe social distancing and try to consume only vital information and scare-pieces.

Nelson C.J

Nelson C.J is a culture writer with works in The New York Times, Xtra Magazine, OkayAfrica, Black Youth Project, AfroPunk, and a few other spaces. You can find him saving dog pictures on Twitter.