I do remember a discussion very early on ycombinator, where one of the posters was brainstorming and presented the following:

- 1. zinc ions deactivate many viruses, esp. rhinoviruses such as COVID, and zinc lozenges had long been used to halt virus' advancement in the mouth, throat and lungs (limited),

- 2. hydroxychloroquine acts as a "zinc ionophore" and allows zinc ions to pass through the cell wall and to attack viruses inside the cell (that is, not just in the bloodstream),

- 3. COVID patients were falling prey to secondary infections (i.e., COVID rapidly damaged the mucosa of the mouth, throat, lungs, opportunistic bacterial infections invaded the already-damaged tissue. Ergo use antibiotics to suppress bacterial secondary infections.

into the conclusion that a valid COVID treatment was

- early hydroxychoroquine and zinc supplementation (immediately, not after hospitalization), followed by

- antibiotic therapy to keep secondary bacterial infections at bay.

But this brainstorming brought the hounds of Hell out of the woodwork on these forums, decrying the very thought that, in the absence of a cure, one might be free to speculate on possible early remedies [At this time there was no vaccine and the need for big pharma to suppress any cheap, effective treatment was their primary goal.]

Anyway our brainstormer turned out to be right, but the naysayers won on these forums (yes, his posts were removed from this board).

That was the end of my trust in ycombinator.