The Ministry of Ayush clarified that the newly launched 'National Clinical Management Protocol based on Ayurveda and Yoga for Management of Covid-19' cannot replace the standard protocol for management of the viral disease.

"It is not a replacement to the standard advisory, but an addition to it. If a person stops wearing masks after following the protocols, then the protocols by AYUUSH would not work," Ayush Ministry Secretary Rajesh Kotecha clarified on Tuesday.

The clarification came in wake of over-reliability of public on Ayurvedic medicine which often translates into the ignorance to the mandatory advisories issued by the Centre. "False sense of security should not come to people after following the protocol," Kotecha stated while addressing a weekly press briefing by the Union Health Ministry.

The ministry also said that the Ayurveda and Yoga based protocols have been found useful in immune modulation and prevention from the COVID-19 disease. The ministry also claimed that the suggested protocols are evidence based and developed by the expert committee from All India Institute of Ayurveda, Delhi, Institute for Postgraduate Teaching & Research in Ayurveda, Jamnagar, National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Central Council for Research in Yoga & Naturopathy and other national research organisations.

In the end of April, PM Modi had a meeting with Ayush experts. He had called upon the Ayush sector to generate evidence based immunity promotion guidelines. On the basis of available evidence, the Ayush Ministry came up with the guidelines. The national protocol issued on Tuesday based on Ayurveda and Yoga is the second chapter in the series of protocols for clinical management of the COVID-19.

The ministry also said that knowledge from Ayurveda literature, clinical experience, empirical evidences and Biological plausibility, and emerging trends of ongoing clinical studies formed the basis of the protocol.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had released a protocol for the clinical management of Covid-19 that listed dietary measures, Yoga and Ayurvedic herbs and formulations such as Ashwagandha and AYUSH-64 for prevention of coronavirus infection and treatment of mild and asymptomatic cases.

The protocol suggested use of medicines such as Ashwagandha, Guduchi Ghana Vati or Chyawanaprasha as prophylactic care for high risk population and primary contacts of patients.

It recommended consumption of Guduchi Ghana Vati, Guduchi and Pippali or AYUSH 64 for asymptomatic Covid-19 positive patients for prevention of disease progression to symptomatic and severe forms and to improve recovery rate. The protocol said that Guduchi and Pippali, and AYUSH 64 tablets can be given to mild coronavirus infected patients, it said.

The protocol mentioned the dose of these medicines that is to be taken. The guidelines stated that in addition to these medicines, general and dietary measures have to be followed. "Individuals with moderate to severe coronavirus infection may make informed choice of treatment options and all severe cases will be referred," the protocol guidelines stated.

The document also listed Ashwagandha, Chyawanprasha or Rasayana Churna for post-Covid-19 management in order to prevent lung complications like fibrosis, fatigue and mental health.