The Union government has given the go-ahead to Gujarat for a “solidarity trial for Covid-19”.
Principal Secretary (Health) Jayanti Ravi said on Monday that the trials will be held at Ahmedabad's B.J. Medical College.
The trial is being conducted by the WHO in 100 countries, including India, where the trial is being conducted in association with the Indian Council of Medical Research.
Jayanti said that during the trials effects of medicines like Remdesivir, Lopinavir, Interferon (beta 1 a) and Hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine will be studied.
She said that the results of the studies may help in finding how the ventilator support could be delayed in patients. In some cases, there may be no need to put the patients on ventilator support, she said.
After permission, trials will also start at SVP College in Ahmedabad, GMERs, Vadodara; New Civil Hospital, Surat, and PDU Medical College, Rajkot.
The announcement comes on a day when the COVID-19 death toll in Gujarat crossed the 300-figure mark. With the death of 29 persons in 24 hours, which ended at 5pm on Monday, the death toll in Gujarat has gone up to 319. Gujarat is only second to Maharashtra in terms of number of cases and deaths.
The total number of cases stands at 5,804. According to Jayanti Ravi, so far 1,135 persons have been discharged.