Remdesivir crisis likely due to exportation, says Delhi HC
and Karnataka with 29,744 new cases.
India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the 2,000,000 mark on August 7; 30 lakh on August 23; 40 lakh on September 5 and 50 lakh on September 16.
It went past 60 lakh on September 28; 70 lakh on October 11, crossed 80 lakh on October 29; 90 lakh on November 20 and surpassed the one-crore mark on December 19. India crossed the grim milestone of 1.50 crore on April 19.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 280,979,877 samples have been tested up to April 26 with 1,658,700 samples being tested on Monday.
The 2,771 new fatalities include 524 from Maharashtra, 380 from Delhi, 249 from Uttar Pradesh, 226 from Chhattisgarh, 201 from Karnataka, 158 from Gujarat and 124 from Jharkhand.
A total of 197,894 deaths linked to the virus have been reported so far in the country.
THE COURT ASKED THE CENTRE ON WHAT BASIS IT WAS DECIDING HOW MUCH OF THE DRUG WAS TO BE ALLOCATED TO DELHI GOVT AND WHETHER ANYONE CAN DIRECTLY APPROACH MANUFACTURES
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday said that millions of vials of Remdesivir, used in treatment of Covid-19, may have been exported by India, but its own citizenry was “suffering due to acute shortage of the drug”.
Justice Prathiba M Singh said several companies in India were manufacturing the medicine and millions of vials of the drug must have been exported, “but we do not have enough to cater to our own patients”. “Statistics show that shortage of the drug in Delhi is acute,” the court said and asked the Centre, Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) whether there has been any change in the guidelines with regard to administering Remdesivir.
The court also asked the Centre on what basis it was deciding how much of the drug was to be allocated to the Delhi government and whether anyone can directly approach the manufactures or suppliers for buying the medicine. The directions came on a plea by a lawyer who is suffering from Covid-19 and was able to get only three out of the six doses of Remdesivir required by him.
The court directed the Delhi government, represented by additional standing counsel Anuj Aggarwal, to ensure the petitioner gets the remaining three vials of the medicine by 9 pm tonight. With the direction, the court listed the matter for hearing on April 28.