Stocks jump on coronavirus treatment hopes

Stock markets jumped Friday morning following reports of a potentially effective treatment for the coronavirus.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 550 points, or 2.3 percent, while the S&P 500 rose 52 points, or 1.8 percent.

On Thursday, STAT News reported that a clinical trial on the antiviral drug remdesivir from Gilead Sciences showed promising results.

While the results have not yet officially been published, and other trials are ongoing, the study seemed to show that the drug was effective in treating severe cases.

Of the 125 patients in the trial, 113 had severe cases of the disease. Nearly all of the patients have since been discharged, and two have died.

An effective treatment for coronavirus could be a game changer, relieving overwhelmed hospitals stretched to their limits from COVID-19 patients.

It could potentially allow the economy to open up more quickly than public health experts currently expect, allowing people to get back to work and businesses to open once again.

Since the pandemic, the economy has entered what analysts believe to be a sharp recession. More than 20 million people have applied for unemployment in the last four weeks alone.