Gov. Ron DeSantis Said Feds Are Accelerating Shipments Of Remdesivir To Florida Hospitals
APOPKA (CBSMiami) - After announcing an affordable an housing assistance program as part of CARES act, Governor Ron DeSantis addressed the state's actions and hospital capacity as coronavirus cases continue to surge.
Speaking in Apopka, Desantis said they had been able to get a shipment of the drug remdesivir from the federal government.
"We expedited a shipment last weekend as hospitals said they were running low and wanted more which we want to help deliver on. So the White House is accelerating more remdesivir to the State of Florida. We think it's going to ship this weekend. It will go directly from the distributor to the hospitals so the state is not going to be involved in parceling it out," he said.
DeSantis said he spoke to the head of Gilead Sciences, which manufactures the drug, and said they are producing it as fast as they can.
Remdesivir is an antiviral medication originally developed to treat Ebola. The FDA approved its emergency use after a study showed it helped COVID-19 patients recover faster.
As for hospital capacity, the governor said 21 percent of the beds statewide are available. He added that was a greater percentage available than in early March before the pandemic took off.
"Typically hospitals run at 90 percent, or 88 or 90 percent, that's how they stay in business. But now we have less than 80 percent of the beds that are actually in use so there is capacity," he said.
