More good news: Hospitalizations of patients drop 20 percent in Washington; Blood-plasma treatment looks promising; Americans eager to book cruises.

In the wake of the FDA permitting the emergency use of the chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine for treatment of COVID-19, two governors who had banned such use reveres course.

The first is Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer drew fire from some on the right after the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) sent a letter last week threatening “administrative action” against doctors who prescribed two experimental drugs that could potentially help coronavirus patients. The Whitmer administration has since removed the language threatening doctors from the letter and is now asking the federal government to send shipments of the drugs, Bridge magazine reports. The Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency authorization for the antimalarial drugs hydroxychloroquine sulfate and chloroquine phosphate on Saturday.

The second is Gov. Steve Sisolak.

Nevada Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak is allowing malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to be prescribed for the inpatient treatment of coronavirus patients, a spokesperson said Tuesday. Last week, Sisolak endorsed restrictions on the use of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for outpatient prescriptions as the Trump administration touted its potential effectiveness in treating coronavirus. The governor’s office had said the restrictions were to protect the supply of the drugs for individuals with lupus and other conditions.

Hospitalizations of patients with coronavirus-like symptoms drop 20 percent in Washington state

Some good news from the state with the first official case of COVID-19 reported in this country.

The Seattle Times reported Tuesday that data released by the state’s Department of Health showed a decline in hospitalizations for symptoms of the virus, including pneumonia and shortness of breath, dropped to 193 after sitting at 251 last week. Health officials cautioned that the data may not be perfect, as it does not count hospitalizations at 16 percent of the state’s emergency rooms. “We have seen an increase in volume of COVID-19 patients but fortunately at a slower rate than we anticipated, which is great,” Dr. Douglas Wood, chair of University of Washington Medicine’s surgery department, told the Times in an interview. “We have enough surgical masks to do our job. But we have to anticipate tomorrow.”

Top NY Blood Center doctor says plasma coronavirus treatment looking ‘promising’

The use of blood plasma from recovered patients appears to offer promise as another coronavirus treatment option.

Dr. Beth Shaz, chief medical and scientific officer at the New York Blood Center, joined “The Story” Wednesday night to discuss “promising” efforts to treat coronavirus using the blood plasma of recovered patients. “Right now we have a handful [of donors],” Shaz told host Martha MacCallum. “You have to be at least 14 days after [having] symptoms. With the first cases in the New York area [confirmed] on March 1, we are just beginning to get there.”

Watch the latest video at foxnews.com

93 coronavirus cases among Roosevelt sailors as Navy works to remove most of the crew

The US Navy is working to remove some 2,700 sailors from the USS Theodore Roosevelt in an attempt to slow a spreading coronavirus outbreak on the aircraft carrier now docked off the coast of Guam.

The Navy has already moved about 1,000 sailors off the ship, of which 93 sailors had tested positive for the fast-spreading virus as of Wednesday, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said. The scramble to quickly test and remove troops from the ship comes one day after a letter to top Navy officials penned by the Roosevelt’s top officer surfaced in the media. In the letter, Capt. Brett Crozier warned the outbreak could kill some sailors, and that “if we do not act now, we are failing to properly take care of our most trusted asset — our sailors.”

Cruise bookings are on the rise for 2021 despite coronavirus

Few stories could offer more proof of American optimism in the face of this pandemic than this one!

It seems travelers are prepared to batten down the hatches and sail close to the wind, as cruise bookings for 2021 are on the rise. Analysts at UBS say booking volume for 2021 cruises has “gone up 9 percent in the last 30 days versus the same time last year,” despite many cruise ships currently quarantined amid the coronavirus pandemic. “That includes people applying their future cruise credits from sailings that were cancelled this year, but still shows a surprising resilience in desire to book a cruise,” UBS equity analysts wrote in a March 31 report on cruise lines.

Wuhan doctor who alerted other medics to the spread of coronavirus ‘goes missing’ amid fears she has been detained

Dr. Ai Fen was the first doctor to inform other colleagues about a SARS-like disease. Her text led her co-worker Dr. Li Wenliang to raise the concerns on social media about the outbreak. Li later succumbed to COVID-19.

A Wuhan doctor who was among the first to alert other medics to the spread of coronavirus has disappeared sparking concerns that she has been detained, reports suggest. Dr Ai Fen said she faced ‘unprecedented, extremely harsh reprimanded’ by officials at Wuhan Central Hospital after she shared a picture of a patient report labelled ‘SARS coronavirus’. The image was widely circulated and made its way to whistle-blower Li Wenliang who raised the alarm about the bug, which has killed more than 41,000 people worldwide.



