The Remedy Was KNOWN FOR YEARS

Well, isn't this nice.

...It turns out that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has known since at least 2005 that chloroquine is effective against coronaviruses.

In 2005, Martin J Vincent et al published a study in Virology Journal titled ‘Chloroquine is a potent inhibitor of SARS coronavirus infection and spread.’...

There is some exceptionally good news here, too:

...chloroquine has strong antiviral effects on SARS-CoV infection of primate cells. These inhibitory effects are observed when the cells are treated with the drug either before or after exposure to the virus, suggesting both prophylactic and therapeutic advantage. In addition to the well-known functions of chloroquine such as elevations of endosomal pH, the drug appears to interfere with terminal glycosylation of the cellular receptor, angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. This may negatively influence the virus-receptor binding and abrogate the infection, with further ramifications by the elevation of vesicular pH, resulting in the inhibition of infection and spread of SARS CoV at clinically admissible concentrations....[Quoting the 2005 Vincent Report]

You may speculate as to the reason(s) for this.  Noteworthy:  the drug is NOT APPROVED for use in the USA by our intrepid FDA.  Good enough for Europeans, but........... Isn't that interesting?

Meantime, Bayer will donate 3 million doses to the US, no matter the objections from US Big Pharma.