Haryana to purchase DRDO's anti-COVID drug for treating coronavirus patients
Haryana will purchase anti-COVID drug 2DG developed by DRDO for treatment of coronavirus patients, state Health Minister Anil Vij said. He said the drug helps in the faster recovery of patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence. The state has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases in the second wave of the pandemic.
"Haryana will purchase anti-Covid drug 2DG developed by DRDO for treatment of covid patients. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan Today released the drug which helps in faster recovery of patients and reduces supplemental oxygen dependence", Vij said in a tweet.
DRDO chairperson Dr. G Satheesh Reddy said on Monday that the new anti-COVID drug 2-DG should work against various strains of the COVID-19 virus.
"The drug 2DG developed by us should work against the various strains of the COVID-19 virus," Reddy said.
He added that the organisation was hoping to ramp up production of the drug up to one lakh sachet per day by the first week of June.
"From the first week of June, we are hoping to ramp up the production of the drug as the process to develop it takes around one month. We are hoping to increase the number of sachets production to one lakh per day," Reddy said.
Deepak Sapra, CEO of Pharmaceutical Services and API, Dr. Reddy's Labs, said the new anti-COVID drug is an add-on and not a substitute for any of the drugs that are used to treat coronavirus patients.
COVID-19 situation in Haryana
Haryana on Monday reported 114 COVID deaths and 7,488 fresh cases, taking the state’s fatality count to 6,799 and the total infection number to 7,01,915, according to a Health Department bulletin. Gurgaon reported 13 deaths, followed by 10 in Ambala, nine in Panchkula and eight in Panipat.
Gurgaon also reported a maximum of 1,176 cases, followed by Hisar (830), Faridabad (506), and Mahendragarh (469).
The state has been under lockdown for the past fortnight now and the curbs to check the spread of the infection have been extended by the state government till May 24.
The number of active cases in the state is currently 83,161. So far, 6,11,955 people have recovered from the infection.
The cumulative positivity rate is 8.45 per cent, the bulletin said, adding that the recovery rate stands at 87.18 per cent.
