식약처, 코로나19 치료제 '렘데시비르'특례 수입 승인... 49명 확진
Doctors in South Korea now have another option at their disposal in the fight against COVID-19 as the nation has approved the import of Gilead Sciences' remdesivir.
The decision comes as the drug originally created combat Ebola has been in use for the coronavirus in countries including the U.S. and Japan.
Meanwhile, health authorities here reported 49 new cases - most of them from the Seoul metropolitan area.
Kim Sung-min with the details.
South Korea's Food and Drug Safety administration approved a special import on Wednesday for the drug Remdesivir.
It said the drug has been approved for special treatments, and that it has been proven effective in other countries, where it has shortened the recovery time of some COVID-19 patients.
The decision comes as South Korea reported 49 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, with 48 of the cases coming from the Seoul metropolitan area.
There was one additional death reported... bringing the death toll to 273.
A new cluster has emerged at a church in Incheon. 55 cases were linked to the church as of Wednesday.
Amid the new cases, the government said it is still too early to toughen the measures.
"As of now, our medical facilities can control the spread, but considering the clusters I have mentioned before, we will have to do further analysis."
Wednesday was also the third phase of school reopenings.
78 students and teachers have caught COVID-19 from private academies since February, but the Education Ministry said it has no authority to penalize academies that failed to follow the measures.
It said it wished to change the law to give it authority, while the KCDC reiterated the importance of businesses following proper measures.
"We ask business operators to strictly follow the quarantine measures especially at main infection routes for students such as private academies, singing rooms, and internet cafes..."
During the briefing, the KCDC also said the two possible cases of Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome in Children did not have the mysterious condition, but were rather confirmed as having Kawasaki disease.
Meanwhile, the government asked for people who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate their blood, which contains coronavirus antibodies, so that this can be used for vaccine research.
Kim Sung-min, Arirang News
