In an interview with Bild newspaper (link in German), federal health minister Jens Spahn said that there “are early indications that certain medications seem to help,” and that there were ongoing studies in Germany into what drugs could potentially work in treating coronavirus, “including with this old malaria drug.”

He added that more studies are needed as all drugs have side effects. However, he expects an effective drug to treat COVID-19 to come on the market much earlier than a vaccine.