PUTRAJAYA: Health facilities nationwide will start administering Baricitinib, the latest drug to treat Covid-19 patients, especially for those in Category 4 and 5.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said the medicine had been proven to be more effective in treating infected patients, along with Dexamethasone.
"We hope to improve the recovery rate and reduce deaths among patients in these categories, with the use of the new drugs and oxygen," he said at a Press conference today.
He said there were a total of 826 patients in Category 5, where treatment would take about 21 days, and 14 days for Category 4 patients (3,473 cases).
There are currently 2,430 Category 3 patients, 2,717 patients in Category 2 and 721 patients in Category 1.
Dr Noor Hisham said there were also Covid-19 patients in Category 1 and 2 who were admitted to the hospital due to other illnesses such as diabetes and hypertension.