BMC wants to give Remdesivir to 1K patients a month

To bring down the city’s Covid-19 fatality rate of 5.2%, which has seen a steady rise in the past two weeks, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wants to

To bring down the city’s Covid-19 fatality rate of 5.2%, which has seen a steady rise in the past two weeks, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) wants to administer Remdesivir, a drug used to treat Ebola, to at least 1,000 patients a month.

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Municipal commissioner IS Chahal said he would make the request at the video conference between state governments and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, before the meet. At the conference, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray requested the prime minister to expedite permissions to use three drugs to treat Covid-19 positive patients, including Remdesivir.

“Let me give it to 1,000 patients a month. Remdesivir has proved very effective and its use will help Mumbai considerably bring down its fatality rate. I also want it to be easily available at cheap rates, to be administered to poor patients, who cannot easily afford it. Today, it is not available. In fact I am mentioning let the drug be available at every chemist. Let common man have access to it. This is one way of saving lives. Currently, the drug costs ₹1,60,000 per patient.”

The increase in Mumbai’s fatality rate over the past two weeks has been a cause for concern for BMC. The rate stood at 3.2% on June 1, and rose to 3.7% by June 15. However, after the state government reconciled death figures on Tuesday, adding 862 deaths to Mumbai’s cumulative toll, the mortality has gone up to 5.2%.

Remdesivir has been approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to be used for Covid-19 patients on compassionate grounds.