List of top Covid-19 developments: From anti-malarial drug trial to Centre’s message on coronavirus

“We will have to learn to live with the virus, for which it is important to make critical behavioural changes,” Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said on Friday.

As coronavirus cases continue to rise, the Centre has said that the country must learn to live with the virus.

A medical screening organized for the residents of Dharavi, during the nationwide lockdown, imposed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in Mumbai. (Satish Bate/HT Photo)

“We will have to learn to live with the virus, for which it is important to make critical behavioural changes and incorporate all the preventive guidelines that the health ministry has been issuing on following hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing measures, as part of our daily routine. It is an everyday battle for us to keep the infection at bay,” Union health ministry joint secretary Lav Agarwal said on Friday.

The Covid-19 national tally inches toward the 60,000 mark with over 16,000 patients who have recovered from the deadly contagion and have been discharged from hospitals. More than 1,800 people have lost their lives in the battle against coronavirus.

Here’s taking a quick look at top developments:

1. Five hospitals, two from Ahmedabad and one each from Chennai, Jodhpur and Bhopal, have so far been approved to conduct randomised controlled clinical trials under WHO’s Solidarity Trial to find an effective treatment for Covid-19.

2. Anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine has failed another test to check its efficacy in treating the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), a new study has revealed, with patients admitted to hospitals showing no change in their conditions after being administered the medicine.

4. The Union health ministry on Friday revised its discharge guidelines for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients, requiring only patients who had developed a severe illness or have compromised immunity to test negative through a swab test before they are allowed to leave the hospital or a care centre.

5. Kerala on Friday completed 100 days since the first coronavirus case was reported on January 30. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the Covid-19 curve in the state had flattened marked by high recovery and low mortality rate. The CM, however, said that the time was not to lower the guard against the deadly contagion as cases continue to rise rapidly across the country.