BATON ROUGE - An experimental drug that can speed the recovery of COVID-19 patients is on its way to the capital area.

The U.S. government announced Wednesday it is working to make the antiviral medication 'remdesivir' available to patients as quickly as possible.

“What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert. “This will be the standard of care.”

Shortly after the announcement Wednesday, the Our Lady of the Lake Health System said it would be part of Gilead Science's expanded access program. OLOL said it would begin enrolling critically ill patients Monday.

We are excited to be #BatonRouge’s only hospital participating in @GileadSciences’ expanded access program to provide #remdesivir to critically ill #COVID19 patients. We will begin enrolling patients on Monday. https://t.co/CHOhWy2ktT

— Our Lady of the Lake (@ololhealth) April 29, 2020

Stocks surged around the world on the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 530 points on the day or over 2%.