Why can’t we develop COVID-19 treatments faster?

It will take time to find a medication to treat COVID-19. Doctors must learn how the virus that causes COVID-19 is built, since the virus might have a weak spot that can be attacked. Scientists must also determine how the virus attaches to and then enters into a person’s cells, and how it multiplies once it’s inside the cells—so they can create or find a drug that blocks those steps. Doctors will also have to test a potential treatment on a large number of people to see if it works and causes side effects.