Amid the rising cases of Covid-19, the state health department on Friday said that five positive patients have tested negative in the first swab test for Sars-Cov-2 during treatment. Of the five, three are from Mumbai and two are from Pune.
“Patients will not be allowed to leave the isolation ward until they undergo three compulsory tests in intervals of five days. If they come negative in the next two swab tests, we will let the patients go,” said a senior health officer from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
HT had reported earlier that a woman had tested negative in the swab test. She and her husband, who had returned from a trip abroad, were among the first admissions in the isolation ward at Kasturba Hospital. “I am happy that she was found negative. Earlier, she was in the same ward, now she has been taken outside. She is not even allowed to come inside to see me,” he said.
In the absence of specific medicines and treatment schedules for treatment of the new strain of coronavirus, doctors at Kasturba Hospital are treating patients with a combination of oseltamivir and other medicines. The patients currently admitted at Kasturba Hospital are being treated with oseltamivir, an antiviral for swine flu treatment. This is locally called Tamiflu or Fluvir. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has recommended the use of oseltamivir along with symptomatic drugs. ICMR has also got approval from the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) to allow antiretrovirals – HIV medicine lopinavir/ritonavir – for the treatment. These drugs were earlier used for treatment of patients during the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002, also a fatal respiratory illness caused by a coronavirus.