NEW DELHI: The government has undertaken collective and collaborative efforts to crank up the supplies of oxygen, medicines, ICU beds and cryogenic containers to battle the Covid-19 situation in the country, which has yielded good results, defence minister Rajnath Singh said on Monday.
Oxygen supply in the country, for instance, has now been substantially increased to more than 9,500 metric tonnes (MT) per day from around 4,700 MT at the start of this month, said Singh.
“The government is continuously monitoring the situation and taking effective steps to meet all requirements,” he said, releasing the first batch of the new anti-Covid oral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), along with health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan at a function here.
Developed by the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS), a DRDO lab, in collaboration with Dr Reddy’s Laboratories, the 2-DG drug has been approved for emergency use as adjunct therapy in moderate to severe Covid patients.
“I am told that by using 2-DG patients recover two and a half days sooner than the usual treatment. Their oxygen dependency also reduces by about 40%… The 2-DG drug is a new ray of hope in these challenging times,” said the minister.
DRDO chief Dr G Satheesh Reddy said while the first batch of the drug was meant for AIIMS, military and DRDO hospitals, it will be made available to all hospitals in the country from June.
View More | Source: Times of India