DALLAS — An additional 99 cases of remdesivir are headed to hospitals in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Gov. Greg Abbott announced Saturday.
The cases will be distributed among 40 area hospitals, according to release. The cases will be divided as follows to North Texas counties:
- 48 to Dallas
- 32 to Tarrant
- 10 to Collin
- 3 to Denton
- 2 to Rockwall
- 1 each to Ellis, Grayson, Hunt and Johnson
DSHS said it used a five day average of COVID-19 hospitalizations in each county to help determine how to distribute the drug.
Children's hospitals were eligible to receive the drug this time, state officials said, due to a powder formulation of the antiviral treatment.
The Food and Drug Administration's emergency use authorization allows the drug to be used to treat severe patients, such as those in the ICU. Preliminary research has shown the antiviral shortens the recovery time for patients compared to patients on a placebo, the FDA says.
The federal government is distributing a sixth round of the antiviral drug, including 448 total cases to the Texas Department of State Health Services. That's enough to treat almost 1,800 patients, according to state.
State data show almost 7,900 hundred patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized in Texas.
Since May 12, the state has received 1,425 cases of remdesivir, according to officials.
More from WFAA:
- MAP: These are the confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Dallas-Fort Worth area
- President Trump signs extension of COVID-relief fund for businesses
- Medical experts, Gov. Abbott warn Texans not to make the same Memorial Day COVID mistakes this 4th of July
- Private labs can return coronavirus test results in 3 days. Federal test results in Dallas take average of 8 days
- Gilead prices coronavirus drug remdesivir at $2,340 for typical treatment
