Goa govt to give Ivermectin tablets to people in next 2 days

Panaji, May 17 (PTI) The Goa government will start the distribution of Ivermectin tablets as a preventive treatment against COVID-19 in the next 48 hours, state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said on Monday.

The state government had last week announced Ivermectin, an orally administered drug used to treat parasitic infections, will be given to all adults irrespective of their coronavirus status as a preventive treatment.

"We shall be distributing Ivermectin tablets in the state of Goa in the next 48 hours in association with our WCD (Women and Child Development) department and Anganwadi workers. Our Anganwadi workers will be distributing the same in households," Rane said in a tweet.

"Held a meeting with all our officials including Director WCD Smt Deepali Naik, Deputy Director WCD Smit Jyoti Desai, Dean of GMC Dr Bandekar, Director DHS Dr D'Sa and Dr Kedar Raikar with regards to treatment using Ivermectin and distribution of the same," he said in another tweet.

Rane had said the people will be given ivermectin 12 mg for 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.

Goa's COVID-19 tally increased by 1,562 on Monday to reach 1,37,418, while the toll rose to 2,152 after 53 people succumbed to the infection during the day, an official said.

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