Coronavirus cases: India records 2.1 lakh new COVID-19 cases, 3847 deaths in last 24 hoursWashington, May 27: The US health officials have granted emergency authorisation to a third antibody drug to help reduce hospitalisations and deaths due to COVID-19. The FDA said Wednesday it authorised the drug from GlaxoSmithKline and Vir Biotechnology for people with mild-to-moderate cases of COVID-19 who face extra risks of severe illness, including seniors and those with underlying health problems.
There has been low demand for two similar drugs already available, due mainly to the logistical hurdles of delivering them and confusion about their availability. U.S. health officials have been trying to raise awareness of the treatments, connecting people who test positive for COVID-19 with information about nearby providers.
Coronavirus cases: India records 2.1 lakh new COVID-19 cases, 3847 deaths in last 24 hours
The drugs are delivered as a one-time intravenous infusion at a hospital or clinic and should be given within 10 days of the start of symptoms.
Meanwhile, the Union health ministry on Thursday said that India recorded 3,847 deaths due to the novel coronavirus and 211,298 fresh infections in the last 24 hours. With this, the India's total infection tally went up to 27,369,093 and the toll was pushed to 315,235.
According to the health ministry, the active cases further reduced to 24,199,07, which is now 9.19 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 89.66 per cent.
With just a day after it reported the lowest death toll in 21 days with 3,511 fresh fatalities, the country recorded 4,157 new deaths on Wednesday. On Monday, the number of new deaths due to the disease stood at 4,454.
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Meanwhile, Maharashtra, the country's worst-affected state, also witnessed a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in a day. The state's daily death count also went down to 453 on Thursday. As many as 24,752 fresh infections took Maharashtra's tally to 5,650,907 and the total death toll reached 91,341.
This decline in infections is being attribute to more testing and awareness. "We are testing much earlier than before. In addition, those with comorbidities are being sent to hospital and are not advised of home quarantine, which has improved the situation. Today, we have a far better knowledge of the mode of treatment, the medication required, as well as post-Covid-19 protocols than earlier," Dr Subhash Salunke, advisor to the Maharashtra government on Covid-19 management, said.