COVID-19: All adults in Goa to be given Ivermectin drug to bring down mortality

All people above 18 years in Goa will be given Ivermectin drug irrespective of their coronavirus status to bring down mortality, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Monday.

He said patients will be given Ivermectin 12 mg for a period of five days as expert panels from the UK, Italy, Spain and Japan have found a statistically significant reduction in mortality, time to recovery and viral clearance in COVID-19 patients treated with this medicine.

"I have given instructions for immediate implementation of prophylaxis (action taken to prevent disease) treatment," Rane said.

The minister said this treatment would not prevent COVID-19 infection but it can help reduce the severity.

"The Ivermectin 12 mg tablet will be made available in all the district, sub-district, PHCs, CHCs, sub-health centres, rural dispensaries for people to collect and start treatment immediately, irrespective of any symptoms or anything," Rane said.

Goa on Monday recorded 2,804 new cases of coronavirus, taking its tally to 1,21,650, while 50 more fatalities pushed the toll to 1,729, a health official said.