Dr Osagie Ehanire, Nigeria’s Minister of Health, has disclosed the drug used to treat COVID-19 patients in Nigeria.

Addressing members of the House of Representatives today Tuesday May 5, Ehanire said Remdesivir is being used to treat patients with the virus.

“We have been using that (Remdesivir); we have tried that in Lagos too. So, we have tried the antiretroviral drug to see what effect it has” he said

The Minister said the drug which was originally developed as a potential treatment for Ebola, is one of the options which Nigeria has adopted for in treating COVID-19 patients.

Remdesivir was tested in 1,063 hospitalized Coronavirus patients around the world and has proven to reduce the time it takes patients to recover 31%. 11 days on average versus 15 days for those just given usual care.