ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Saturday the state will get 30,000 vials of Remdesivir to treat COVID-19 patients.
He made the announcement from Flagler Hospital in St. Augustine.
The drug was once used to treat Ebola, and it is helping hospitals treat coronavirus patients.
Read: Which stores in Central Florida require face masks?
DeSantis said the availability of treatment options has helped kept Florida’s death rate low compared to the nationwide average. Florida’s death rate is about 1.5%.
He said most of the cases are asymptomatic, and the state is working to turn around results more quickly because people are unlikely to stay home for seven to 10 days if they have no symptoms.
DeSantis said on average, visits to emergency rooms are declining statewide, but enough patients are hospitalized that many hospitals felt they would run out of Remdesivir without help from the state.
Watch the full press conference below:
Gov. Desantis says hospitals in Florida will be getting 30 thousand more bottles of remdesivir within the next two days. @WFTV pic.twitter.com/wMErOmUlXN
— Ashley Edlund (@AshleyEdlund) July 18, 2020
Read: Osceola County sheriff upping patrols to break up ‘COVID-19 parties’ in local subdivisions
Cox Media Group
