Taipei, June 18 (CNA) The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) announced Friday that it will convene online consultation meetings next week that will enable medical workers to seek advice from experts about how to best treat severe COVID-19 patients.
The meetings will be held from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. from Monday to Friday and be headed by thoracic surgeon Yu Chong-jen (余忠仁), who is also head of National Taiwan University Hospital's Hsinchu Branch, according to the CECC.
There will be 22 experts at the meeting to evaluate case reports submitted to the CECC earlier in the day by local hospitals and give their advice, the CECC said.
To reduce the mortality rate for severe cases, the CECC said, it has also approved the use of humidified high flow nasal cannula oxygen therapy and prone positioning ventilation therapy, which is now retrospectively covered from May 1 by national health insurance.
The therapies supported by the high flow nasal cannula respiratory device -- an alternative to ventilators with even better performance -- are costly and previously had to be paid by patients themselves.
The device could be highly effective in treating severe cases because it not only allows awake prone positioning for patients with breathing difficulties but also enables them to eat without help from others, reducing the chances of infections for their carers, the CECC said.
In addition, the CECC said, a monoclonal antibody (mAb)-based drug it ordered to treat mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients has arrived, which could lower the risk of patients becoming seriously ill and having to be hospitalized.
The drug could be administered to patients aged over 64 or those aged over 54 with other diseases seen as at high risk, according to the CECC.