Key therapeutic COVID drug due

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KUWAIT CITY, July 3, (Agencies): Kuwait is scheduled to receive a large quantity of the Sotrovimab medicine this week for the treatment of mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 infection, reports Al- Anba daily. In a press statement, informed health sources explained that the medicine will be distributed to hospitals specialized in treating COVID-19 cases in order to start implementing the treatment protocol through this drug. The Ministry of Health had recently completed the contracting procedures to acquire the drug “Sotrovimab”, which is a new treatment option for COVID-19 infections.

The drug Sotrovimab is from the category of monoclonal antibody drugs and is used to treat mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 infections with positive results of direct SARSCoV- 2 viral testing and for those who are at high risk for progression to severe COVID-19, including hospitalization or death. This, for example, includes individuals who are 65 years of age and older or individuals who have certain medical conditions. However, this treatment is not administered to hospitalized patients requiring high flow of oxygen or mechanical ventilation.

The sources indicated that the clinical studies of the drug “Sotrovimab” showed effective results in terms of reducing the cases of hospitalization or death by 85 percent, adding that the drug is characterized by its mechanism of action, as it is a monoclonal antibody directed specifically against the barbed protein of SARS-CoV-2 and is designed to block the virus’ attachment and entry into human cells. They revealed that Kuwait is the second country to license this drug globally, stressing the keenness of the Ministry of Health to provide the best and latest approved treatments for COVID-19 patients and to make them available to patients in Kuwait as soon as possible after the approval of the regulatory authorities.

Kuwait’s daily coronavirus cases jumped by 1,612 to 362,018 as deaths rose by 10 to 2,005, according to the health ministry on Saturday. Another 1,873 people were cured of the virus, raising the total of those to have overcome the disease to 341,477, ministry spokesperson Dr. Abdallah Al- Sanad said in a statement. The number of people hospitalised with the virus currently stands at 18,536, with 299 of them in intensive care units, he added, revealing that some 12,216 swab tests were conducted over the last day out of a total of 3,021,382.

He went on to urge nationals and expatriates alike that abiding by health precautions, mainly, following social distancing rules, is the only way to halt the spread of the virus. As part of its social responsibility towards its employees and contractors, the Kuwait Ports Corporation, with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health, last week launched a campaign to vaccinate the employees of the corporation and the contracting companies as well as the operating factories and government agencies, in the corporation’s main building and in Shuwaikh Port, Al-Anba daily. Director General of the Kuwait Ports Corporation Sheikh Yousef Al-Abdullah affirmed the keenness of the corporation to provide the vaccine to all its employees and affiliates in order to protect them and ensure the continuity of work in the various ports of Kuwait in a way that meets all the needs of citizens and residents for goods and merchandise.

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