Trump will finish taking hydroxychloroquine

President Donald Trump indicated Wednesday that he will finish his preventative hydroxychloroquine regimen "in a day or two."

"I think it’s two days. Two days," Trump said from the Cabinet Room at the White House.

Trump had announced Monday that he was taking hydroxychloroquine, a drug that he's repeatedly touted as a treatment for coronavirus despite warnings about its effectiveness, as a prophylaxis against the coronavirus.

Trump, who said he has tested negative for COVID-19, stated Monday he had been taking the drug daily for about a week and a half as an added measure to avoid getting the coronavirus. He said the White House physician "didn't recommend" hydroxychloroquine but offered it to him.

Hydroxychloroquine is an arthritis medicine that can also be used as a prevention or treatment of malaria, as well as treatment for lupus, according to the Mayo Clinic. It’s available in the U.S. under prescription only.

Trump's claim stirred up a storm online and on cable television, with an array of doctors, journalists and politicians issuing stern warnings to others after the president's revelation, pointing out the drug's ineffectiveness against the coronavirus in a few recent studies and long list of potentially dangerous side effects.

Dhaka/Mukul