SOUTH AFRICA - ASPEN SAYS THERE IS ENOUGH DEXAMETHASONE TO TREAT SEVERELY ILL COVID-19 SOUTH AFRICANS

Pharmaceutical giant Aspen says there will be enough supplies of the drug, Dexamethasone, which is used to treat severely ill COVID-19 patients.

Oxford University's recovery trial found the anti-inflammatory medicine causes a 35 % reduction in the deaths of critically ill patients.

Health Minister Zweli Mkhize says South African doctors are able to offer the treatment those who need it.

Mkhize says there are currently around 300,000 units of the product available in the country.

Aspen’s Stavros Nicolaous says the drug has a very targeted therapeutic range.

“It does have generic forms it so there are other suppliers in the country. We are confident that, between Aspen and other suppliers, we are able to keep a stable and constant supply in the country – which is the most important thing.”

On Friday night the department of health announced the highest COVID-19 related death figure. Ninety-four people have died, bringing the national tally to 1,831.

Overall, there are 87,715 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in South Africa, and of those 47,825 people have recovered.

Earlier, the Ministerial Advisory Committee on COVID-19 issued an advisory to recommend the drug, or a similar medication, to patients on ventilators.

Trial results showed that the benefit of dexamethasone was only seen in patients seriously ill with COVID-19 and was not observed in patients with mild symptoms.

via - EWN