Governor Abbott, DSHS Sending Antiviral Drug Remdesivir To Dallas, Fort Worth Metro Area
NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) -- After saying this week that COVID-19 is spreading at "unacceptable rate" and must be stopped, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that he along with the Texas Department of State Health Services "is distributing 120 additional cases of the antiviral drug Remdesivir to 37 hospitals across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex."
Remdesivir was shown in a clinical trial to shorten the time to recovery in some patients, according to the CDC.
Earlier this week Abbot said that in the last four or five days, hospitalizations have averaged more than 3,200 per day in Texas.
In a statement released earlier on Tuesday, June 23 Abbott said, "The Lone Star State is committed to providing our health professionals with the resources they need to care for Texans who contract COVID-19"
According to the statement, preliminary results from a clinical trial showed the average recovery time among patients who received Remdesivir was 11 days versus 15 days with a placebo. The supply is part of a donation from drug maker Gilead.
The Governor's office said the cases were provided to Texas through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
They said this is the fifth round of distribution from the federal government. "At 368 cases, enough to treat approximately 1,472 patients, this is the largest distribution so far and brings the total cases distributed to Texas hospitals by DSHS to 977," officials said in the statement.
"Medical staff at each hospital will determine how the drug will be used, though it must be prescribed in accordance with the Food and Drug Administration's Emergency Use Authorization, allowing for the treatment of suspected or confirmed COVID-19 in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease, such as those in intensive care."
