Explainer | Coronavirus: what are the treatment options for available in Hong Kong and do any of them actually work?

Treatment depends on severity of patient’s condition and whether there are risk factors, says William Chui, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists

City has ordered newly developed oral drugs, molnupiravir and Paxlovid, while Chinese medicine has been administered to patients with mild or no symptoms at their request

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Covid-19 patients wait at the accident and emergency department at Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Thursday. Photo: Felix Wong

Published: 11:00am, 26 Feb 2022Updated: 5:47pm, 26 Feb 2022

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The worsening fifth wave of coronavirus infections in Hong Kong and the delay in isolation and treatment have caused panic among residents. Even though health advisers have said most Covid-19 patients in the city have mild or no symptoms, many of them have rushed to look for medication on their own.

The Post looks into the treatment options currently available inside and outside public hospitals in the city, what works and what doesn’t.

An ampoule of remdesivir, an antiviral drug used for Covid-19 patients treated in public hospitals. Photo: Reuters

What Covid-19 treatments are currently available in Hong Kong?

It depends on the severity of one’s condition. For patients with mild symptoms such as headache and fever, medication such as painkillers or cough syrup would be enough, said William Chui Chun-ming, president of the Society of Hospital Pharmacists.

The Hospital Authority also uses antiviral medication Remdesivir and monoclonal antibodies Casirivimab and Imdevimab for Covid-19 patients who are treated in public hospitals.

Chui said the choice of drugs depended on the severity of a patient’s condition and whether there were any risk factors, such as old age, obesity, diabetes or cardiovascular diseases. For example, a Covid-19 patient with moderate symptoms and required oxygen therapy would be given Remdesivir as well as a type of steroid called dexamethasone. Patients with risk factors and mild symptoms would be given a type of antiviral protein named interferon.