OdishaPlus Bureau
The Odisha government on Monday received the first consignment of Remdesivir and Favipiravir medicines for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in the state. Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health and Family Welfare, P K Mohapatra said Remdesivir medicine will be used only in the treatment of moderate to severely ill COVID-19 patients. “The Remdesivir medicines have been sent to all COVID hospitals across the state”, he said.
The drugs will help reduce the fatality rate (which is 0.39 percent in Odisha), Mahapatra said, adding that it is a nucleoside analog pro-drug having inhibitory effects on pathogenic animal and human coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in vitro. The ACS Health and Family Welfare said it inhibits Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, SARS-CoV-1, and SARS-CoV-2 replication in animal models.
Meanwhile, State Drugs Controller Mamina Patnaik said, Odisha has also received 1,200 strips (each strip containing 34 tablets) of Fabi Flu (Favipiravir) tablets to cure patients with mild to moderate coronavirus. “We will first send these tablets to COVID Hospitals for immediate use of the patients as a small consignment has so far been received,” she said.
The tablets will eventually be available for purchase in the market after they are received in larger numbers in subsequent phases, the Drugs Controller said. She explained that Remdesivir injection is meant for the moderate to severe cases, while Fabi Flu for mild to moderate patients.
This apart, the state presently has a stock of two lakh tablets and two lakh injections of Dexamethasone. Dexamethasone is used to treat conditions such as arthritis, blood/hormone/immune system disorders, allergic reactions, certain skin and eye conditions, breathing problems, certain bowel disorders, and certain cancers. It is also used as a test for an adrenal gland disorder.
Mohapatra said the state has already launched a serology survey in Puri district from July 27. The next phase will begin in Bhubaneswar, Ganjam and Gajapati districts and Badamba-Narasinghpur area in Cuttack district from July 1, he said.
The ACS Health and Family Welfare said people will undergo rapid antibody tests as part of the serology survey.
“We have received the first consignment of the antibody test kits approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) while the second consignments of 50,000 kits will arrive in the state soon,” he added. The state has so far reported 6,859 positive cases of which 4,946 patients have recovered and 23 have died.
Meanwhile, Mohapatra rejected the possibility of Odisha facing a Delhi like situation in terms of hospital beds and ICU required for the COVID patients. “Presently we have less than 1,900 patients while the arrangement is in place for 22,340 isolation beds and 440 ICU beds,” he said.
Mohapatra said this is not that only new cases are being detected every day, a large number of patients are also discharged after their recovery from the disease on a daily basis. He said the overall COVID bed occupancy remained within 25 percent. “The maximum number of patients requiring ventilators at any point of time in the state so far has been nine,” Mohapatra said, adding that the state already has 400 ventilators and another 100 will be procured soon.