The Zambian government has acquired a new drug for the treatment of COVID-19 patients who are severely ill, a health official said on Thursday.
Lloyd Mulenga, Director of the Infectious Disease Center, said the drug, Remdesivir, was effective for the treatment of severely ill patients.
Speaking during a COVID-19 update briefing, he said that it was hoped that the new drug will give better outcomes in treating COVID-19 as it reduces the recovery rate.
He said so far two patients at the country’s biggest isolation center at the Levy Mwanawasa Hospital were taking the new drug.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Kennedy Malama said the country will not hesitate to acquire any medicine for the treatment of COVID-19 as long as its efficacy was proved.
He said the country was doing everything possible not only in intervention measures but in ensuring proper treatment for those with the virus.
The country has since recorded 41 new cases in the last 24 hours out of 785 tests done while 160 patients were discharged from various isolation centres.
This brings the cumulative cases and recoveries to 13,928 and 13,029 respectively. The total death still stands at 326 as the country did not record any death in the last 24 hours.
