Some additional things that need to be understood about this non-peer reviewed study:
The study does not query or document why the VA doctors chose the regimen of care for their COVID positive patients. So for example, if doctors felt a patient was in a desperate condition and they therefore initiated HCQ as opposed to a non-severe case where the doctor chose no drug therapy those are treated as equally at risk cases.
That is plainly a flaw in the study and ought to be acknowledged.
Yes. The control should be those who would normally be proscribed HCQ but were not...what was their mortality rate.?
Without this then the study is simply reporting the results rather than efficacy.