Remdesivir becomes available to COVID-19 patients

Remdesivir became available for COVID-19 treatment in Korea, Wednesday. Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

The government made an Ebola drug, remdesivir, available for limited use in the treatment of COVID-19 patients with serious symptoms, Wednesday, in a move to treat the infectious disease.

The government announced 33 patients would be in the first group to receive the drug treatment, adding the prescription will be allowed only for those with pneumonia and in need of oxygen treatment.

The National Medical Center which is responsible for distributing the drug for the entire country will collect and review the prescription requests before releasing the drug, which was developed by U.S. biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences Inc.

The government said it has enough in stock to treat patients until the end of July, but from August it will have to negotiate again with the company.

The treatment will be free of charge in July. In the U.S., the drug is sold for $3,120 per 100 mg, equivalent to 3.75 million won.

Remdesivir was found to have shortened the recovery period among patients with serious symptoms by 31 percent in a recent clinical trial undertaken in the U.S. The drug can be administered for up to 10 days in a row.

S. Korea administers remdesivir for COVID-19 patients for 1st time

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Medical experts believe the remdesivir treatment will help to free up hospital beds and other resources available in healthcare facilities.

"The government will continue to work with Gilead Sciences Korea to get additional supplies," Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a daily press briefing, Wednesday.

However, experts said there is still a long way to go until the infectious disease is under control. Vaccine development is critical and is estimated to take at least one year.

According to the KCDC, Korea reported 51 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 12,850. The death toll remained at 282.

Among 51 new cases, 36 were local infections linked to infection clusters, while the rest involved people who recently traveled abroad.

Two among the 36 were elementary school students from Daejeon who are believed to have contracted the virus from their peers or teachers at school, raising concerns about the school's preventive measures against COVID-19.

"We've seen cases involving students and teachers but they mostly contracted the virus through family members. We haven't seen children or teachers contracting the virus from others at school. We're looking closely into how the transmission happened," Jung said.

Meanwhile, almost 80,000 entertainment facilities, such as clubs, bars and karaoke rooms across the country, became obliged to scan the personal QR codes of all visitors, Wednesday, with sanctions to be applied to businesses found to be in violation.

The QR-based entry log system was put into place last month, but violators weren't sanctioned until the end of June. Fines will be up to 3 million, together with a business shutdown.

Workers at the Gayang Elementary School in Daejeon hang a shutdown notice at the school's door, Wednesday, after two COVID-19 cases were confirmed. Yonhap

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