Butler Health System received its first supply of remdesivir, a drug used to treat the most serious cases of COVID-19.

Pennsylvania received its first shipment of the drug Tuesday, coming from the federal government, and the state Department of Health immediately began distributing about 1,200 doses of the experimental drug to hospitals across the state. Butler Health System was one of 51 hospitals to receive the drug.

“BHS received 18 vials of remdesivir, a drug available in very limited quantities, appropriate for a select group of COVID-19 positive patients,” said BHS spokeswoman Jana Panther. “BHS has enough of the drug on hand for one to three patients.”

According to a fact sheet published by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization of the drug for “use of the unapproved product remdesivir for treatment of suspected or laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults and children hospitalized with severe disease.”

In a news conference earlier this week, state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine said the drug should be reserved in only the most serious cases of COVID-19, where it has shown some viability. She said the drug needs multiple uses as part of the treatment.

Panther said the BHS also offers its thanks to the Butler Eagle for its donation of $14,895 for COVID-19 supplies.

“The Eagle's support of BHS, and communication to the community, has been tremendous, throughout the pandemic,” Panther said. “We thank them.”

Data regarding COVID-19 totals of Butler County and the state were not available as of 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. The state Department of Health typically releases this data daily at noon, but issued a news release around 12:45 p.m. that the data would not be available on time Wednesday.

The following numbers on the coronavirus pandemic were compiled from the regular releases from Butler Health System.

Inpatients: 5Suspected: 3Confirmed: 2ICU: 1Total tests: 4,179Outdoor tests: 2,445Positive tests: 233

Inpatients: 2Suspected: 0Confirmed: 2ICU: 0Total tests: 852Outdoor tests: 635Positive tests: 30