UK Approves Rheumatoid Arthritis Drugs for COVID-19 Treatment
The UK on Thursday approved two drugs to be used in treating patients with COVID-19, a disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as novel coronavirus.
The two new drugs, tocilizumab and sarilumab, typically used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, are monoclonal antibodies that target a protein called interleukin-6, which is thought to be important in the COVID-19 infection pathway.
The drugs have shown effectiveness for patients requiring organ support, according to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Deputy Chief Medical Officer for England Jonathan Van-Tam said that data from a clinical trial showed that the drugs can speed up and improve the odds of recovery in intensive care.
Los Angeles is reporting one Covid death every eight minutes
From CNN s Cheri Mossburg
Refrigerated overflow morgue containers outside the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner in Los Angeles, California, on Wednesday, January 6. Bing Guan/Bloomberg/Getty Images
One person is dying from Covid-19 in Los Angeles every eight minutes, according to a new tweet from the county.
Over 11,000 Los Angeles County residents have died of Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic. More than 5,000 of those deaths have occurred in the past two months, data from the LA County Department of Public Health shows.
“People who were otherwise leading healthy, productive lives are now passing away because of a chance encounter with the COVID-19 virus, LA County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said Wednesday, adding that the county is seeing more than 200 deaths each day.
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