Coronavirus Updates: India Reports Lowest Number Of Daily Infections In A Week

Re-purposed hydroxychloroquine is being used for mild but high risk and moderate Covid-19 cases, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

According to the data shared by the minister, the Department of Pharmaceuticals has increased the production of hydroxychloroquine manifold and the health ministry has issued 10.84 crore tablets of the drug to states and union territories as on September 11.

"India has also exported it (hydroxychloroquine) to more than 140 countries," Vardhan said.

He also said there is a plan to conduct trial of ayurvedic medicines such as aswagandha, guduchi, pippali etc to prevent people from getting infected from Covid-19.

The minister said no specific antivirals have been proven effective so far and symptomatic treatment for fever and cough, appropriate rehydration, supplemental oxygen therapy remains the mainstay of treatment.

The government has also made provisions for investigational therapies and has also made available Remdesivir, Convalescent plasma and Tocilizumab for managing severe cases under close medical supervision, Vardhan said.

Thirteen clinical trials of repurposed drugs and harnessing of traditional knowledge using the modern medicine are building a portfolio of therapeutic options for Covid-19 patients.

The minister said that more than 30 vaccine candidates have been supported which are in different stages of development, 3 candidates are in advanced stage of Phase I, II and III trials and more than 4 are in advanced pre-clinical development stage in India.

Source: PTI

Appealing to the government to allow theatres to reopen on an urgent basis, the Multiplex Association of India on Tuesday said the movie exhibition sector had lost an estimated Rs 9,000 crore in the last six months.

The cinema body, which represents all the multiplex chains, including, PVR, INOX and Cinepolis, said the sector directly employs more than two lakh people and provides employment to lakhs indirectly.

Describing movies as the soft power of India and cinemas the main form of entertainment for millions of Indians, the association said close to 10,000 cinema screens across the country had been shut for close to six months. The movie exhibition sector has suffered financially and is now staring at job losses unless the government allows theatres to reopen, it said.

The appeal, with the hashtag UnlockCinemaSaveJobs, was published as full page advertisements in some newspapers and also posted on Twitter.

Source: PTI

The government does not have data regarding the number of migrants who died or were injured during migration to their native places due to the lockdown, Union minister Santosh Gangwar told the Lok Sabha on Monday.

"No such data is available," the Labour Minister said in a written reply.

The response was to Biju Janata Dal member Bhartruhari Mahtab's question on the "the number of such labourers died/injured during migration to their native places due to such lockdown, State/Union Territory-wise".

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Global Update

Countries from Iran to the Czech Republic are reporting a jump in cases as the coronavirus flares up again in parts of the world. In France, Bordeaux became the latest city to impose more restrictions to slow a new outbreak.

Researchers are beginning the first study of whether two of the U.K.’s experimental vaccines can be inhaled.

Globally, cases surpass 29.1 million with more than 925,000 dead.