French President Emmanuel Macron met with Professor Didier Raoult, the renowned doctor using Hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients; 1,061 patients treated with 91% success rate

In a big boost to the world’s most controversial professor, French President Emmanuel Macron unexpectedly paid a surprise visit to Marseille to meet with renowned Dr. Didier Raoult, according to French24. Macron met Professor Didier Raoult at his Marseille hospital behind closed doors but did not endorse the treatment, his office said, adding that it was too early for the French government to assess its effectiveness.

“One visit does not legitimate a scientific protocol, a visit simply marks the head of state’s interest for these clinical trials, whether they are promising or not,” a presidential adviser said. But the presidential visit is a boost for the Marseille professor.

According to Les Echos newspaper, Dr. Raoult said his team has performed a total of 66,000 tests from which the researcher drew a new study published that evening on the IHU pre-prints site. His research team also published data showing that out of 1,000 Covid-19 patients treated with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin. According to Les Echos, Raoult gave President Macron the results of a new study on 1,061 patients showing a 91 percent success rate.

Dr. Raoult has been treating coronavirus patients over the past month using hydroxychloroquine. As of Thursday, France has reported a total of 117,749 confirmed cases of coronavirus with at least 12,210 deaths.