By Uzma Zafar
ISLAMABAD: The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) notified on Thursday a Rs3,564 cut in the price of Remdesivir, a drug found to be effective in treating patients hospitalised with coronavirus.
According to the notification, the new price of 100mg vial of the antiviral is fixed at Rs5,680.
The drug regulator has asked firms importing Remesivir to mention the drug price on its packet.
On November 27, the federal cabinet had green-lighted a cut in the price of the antiviral.
Earlier, the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) had suggested a 38 per cent cut in 100 mg Remdesivir injection price and recommended fixing the rate at Rs5,680. A summary to this effect was sent to the federal cabinet by the health ministry for approval.
COVID situation in Pakistan: Pakistan has recorded 56 deaths and 3,138 new cases due to the COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, NCOC said on Thursday.
In the past 24 hours, 56 more people succumbed to the disease, taking the death toll to 8,603. 2,030 patients have recovered from the virus during the last 24 hours and 2,575 patients are in critical condition including 77 more declared critical. The total count of active cases is 46,376 and the positivity rate was recorded up to 7.8 per cent.
According to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), with fresh
inclusion of the infections in the country the national tally of cases now currently stands at 429,280.
A total of 40,202 tests were conducted across the country during this period. Overall 374,301 people have recovered from the deadly disease so far while 5,906,146 samples have been tested thus far.
Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases and fatalities, Prime Minister Imran Khan convened a meeting of the National Coordination Committee (NCC) today to review the coronavirus situation in the country. The premier will be briefed by the National Command and Operations Centre (NCOC) on the coronavirus situation.
Important decisions, including imposing smart lockdowns would be taken.
Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar had warned of imposing tougher restrictions if violations of coronavirus standard operating procedure (SOPs) continues amid the second Covid-19 wave.
Speaking to the media after a meeting of the NCOC, Planning and Development Minister Asad Umar warned Covid-19 cases will go up if health guidelines are not adhered to, piling pressure on hospitals.
