Madhya Pradesh government rushes to distribute Remdesivir to various districts by aircraft

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday (April 15) roped in its aircraft to rush Remdesivir injections from Indore to various other districts in the state for the treatment of COVID-19 patients, an official said.

Two hundred boxes containing 9,264 Remdesivir injections (a key anti-viral drug) have arrived at the Indore airport, an official from the Chief Minister's Office said.

Out of these, 42 boxes will be airlifted to Bhopal, 39 to Jabalpur, 19 to Gwalior, 18 to Rewa, he said.

Besides, 57 boxes of the Remdesivir injections would be kept for Indore, the worst coronavirus-hit district in the state, and some stock will also be sent to Sagar, Ratlam and Khandwa, the official said.

In the wake of a rise in COVID-19 cases, the drug is in high demand as it is used especially in adult patients with severe complications.

The state government is trying to ramp up its health infrastructure in view of the rising number of coronavirus cases in the second wave of the pandemic.

On Wednesday, Madhya Pradesh recorded 9,720 fresh cases of coronavirus, the biggest single-day spike so far, pushing the infection count to 3,63,352.

The fatality tally rose to 4,312 with 51 more deaths, also the highest one-day count so far.

This month, the state has so far reported 67,841 new COVID-19 cases and 326 fatalities, as per official data.