Huge retrospective study published in Lancet:
Researchers analyzed data from 671 hospitals on six continents, involving just over 96,000 patients hospitalized from Dec. 20 to April 14 who tested positive for the coronavirus. About 15,000 received some form of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine.
“We did not observe any benefit of hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine (when used alone or in combination with a macrolide) on in-hospital outcomes, when initiated early after diagnosis of COVID-19,” the researchers concluded. “Each of the drug regimens of chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine alone or in combination with a macrolide was associated with an increased hazard for clinically significant occurrence of ventricular arrhythmias and increased risk of in-hospital death with COVID-19.”
I downloaded the article and searched for "zinc". Didn't appear anywhere. It's nice to have a third replication of the VA and Colombia studies that hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine without zinc does no good. There have been some speculations that HCQ by itself might change the pH inside the cell, make the receptor less likely to bind to the virus, and such. Good to know those things have little effect. I would have tossed the very toxic chloroquine data myself, but that's their call.
Some of these studies and press pronouncements are going to look pretty stupid if HCQ + zinc actually does help. Even Trump said he's taking HCQ + zinc.
