With Antiviral drugs, Time is of the essence.  You have  a window of the first 24-36 hours.  Ex. Tamiflu.   Before the viral load gets too high in the body.  The real need is that every state has to have the ability to test people at every clinic, office, etc.. If you have to send out a test and it takes 3 days to get back results, you have missed that window of opportunity to treat with an antiviral (at least giving the best odds of working).  You have to weigh out the risk/reward ratio with any drug.  If the drug causes liver toxicity (is it acute or chronic).  Ex.  If you drink heavily one night (alcohol) then you will have acute liver toxicity.   That doesn't mean your live will go on to fail.  Your liver is one of the few organs that cells can reproduce/repair new cells.  So, if you have a person that is high risk and could die from the Coronavirus, I would say that the reward is higher than risk to take the antiviral.  There is no "one size fits all" when treating complex cases/co-morbidity.  And 12 patients does not make for a great study, your "P" values will not be too good.  Just the same as  bascktesting, the more data you have the better you can test your system.  Now, we are in new territory with this novel virus, so sometimes you have work with what you have at the moment until proven otherwise.   The private sector is the only one that will bring about different solutions to fight this virus, not the government ( recent test kit debacle).