Short-course remdesivir for healthcare-associated COVID-19: Case series from a non-acute care hospital

Healthcare-associated COVID-19 among vulnerable patients leads to disproportionate morbidity and mortality. Early pharmacologic intervention may reduce negative sequelae and improve survival in such settings. This study aimed to describe outcome of patients with healthcare-associated COVID-19 who received early short-course remdesivir therapy. We reviewed the characteristics and outcome of hospitalized patients who developed COVID-19 during an outbreak that involved two wards at a non-acute care hospital in Japan and received short-course remdesivir. Forty-nine patients were diagnosed with COVID-19, 34 on a comprehensive inpatient rehabilitation ward and 15 on a combined palliative care and internal medicine ward. Forty-seven were symptomatic and 46 of them received remdesivir. The median age was 75, and the median Charlson comorbidity index was 6 among those who received it. Forty-one patients had received one or two doses of mRNA vaccines, while none had received a third dose. Most patients received 3 days of remdesivir. Of the patients followed up to 14 and 28 days from onset, 41/44 (95.3%) and 35/41(85.4%) were alive, respectively. Six deaths occurred by 28 days in the palliative care/internal medicine ward and two of them were possibly related to COVID-19. Among those who survived, the performance status was unchanged between the time of onset and at 28 days.