Coronavirus: India has more than thrice the required stock of hydroxychloroquine, says Health Ministry
Health Ministry on Friday said that country has more than 3 times of required amount of hydroxychloroquine tablets required in near future. Hydroxychloroquine is being touted globally as a possible drug that may counter coronavirus (COVID-19) infection. Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary of Union Health Ministry, addressed the media as part of his daily briefing along with officials of Ministry of External Affairs and Home Ministry.
Stressing that more than enough number of Hydroxychloroquine tablets are available, Agarwal said that 3.28 crore tablets were available as against the requirement of 1 crore tablets currently.
The Ministry said that there were 6412 cases of coronavirus in the country and the death toll had reached 199. Out of these, 33 new deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. Agarwal said that the number of active cases in the country was 5709. 678 new coronavirus infections were detected in the past 24 hours.
Agarwal added that the government was procuring PPEs and face masks on high priority. He said that states required 9 lakh face masks but 20 lakh have already been provided.
Punya Salila Srivastava, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs was addressing the press conference as well. She said that local bodies across the country and especially in cities that have coronavirus hotspots have intensified their efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus. She said that they have been instructed to step up efforts keeping in mind the approaching festive season.
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