New coronavirus drug available in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has received its first shipment of the antiviral drug remdesivir from the federal government to treat some hospitalized coronavirus patients, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said in a briefing Wednesday.

The federal government provided 1,200 doses to the state, she said.

By Wednesday morning, 51 hospitals across the state received the medication, she said. Hospitals in the first shipment were selected based on the number and severity of their coronavirus patients over a recent seven-day period.

“We continue to work to give all our hospitals all the tools that we possibly can to treat patients with COVID-19,” she said.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is managing the supply of remdesivir and has assured the state it will continue receiving weekly supplies of the drug over the next few weeks, she said.

Levine cautioned the drug is not a cure.

While there is limited information on the safety and effectiveness of this medication for the coronavirus, a recent clinical trial reported the drug shortened the recovery time in some people, which is why the Food and Drug Administration has authorized its emergency use for treatment of severely ill coronavirus patients.

Remdesivir must be administered intravenously daily for either five or 10 days, she said.

“According to the FDA, the medication may decrease the amount of coronavirus in the body, which helps you get better faster,” she said.

Plasma infusions are another tool available in hospitals, she said. Studies have shown plasma — the part of blood from recovered coronavirus patients that contains white blood cells and other immune factors — can help some severely ill coronavirus patients, Levine said.

On the topic of recovered patients, Levine said the state has not reported this number in its daily statistics because it would be “impossible” to contact every patient to follow up and verify if and when they recovered.

However, the health department is reaching out to other states to find out how they are calculating recovery rates using statistical and epidemiology techniques, with the goal of releasing a recovery count estimate for Pennsylvania as early as the end of next week, she said.

Some other topics discussed Wednesday:

• Nursing homes

The state has announced a call for coronavirus testing of all residents and workers at nursing and personal care homes and assisted-living facilities.

This testing must be administered multiple times because people in these facilities could test negative one day and positive later, she said.

Testing frequency will differ based on the number of cases in each facility, with testing performed more often in places with higher case counts, Levine said.

A briefing will be held soon for facilities to learn how to access testing and other protocols, she said.

A timeline to roll out the testing has not been set because there are about 693 nursing homes and more than 1,200 personal care homes statewide, she said.

Testing availability is not an issue, at least now, because the state has beefed up testing kits and lab capacity, she said.

• Back to school?

The state’s goal is for all schools to open in the fall, Levine said, cautioning that metrics and models must be further examined to ensure safety.

The state education secretary recently participated in a senate hearing on the topic and will be in ongoing discussions with all school districts to provide updates, she said.