Coronavirus: What exactly is the hydroxychloroquine?
By Lokmat English Desk | Updated: April 7, 2020 16:54 IST2020-04-07T16:53:22+5:302020-04-07T16:54:15+5:30
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The Covid-19 coronavirus has spread around the world, and been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Many countries have declared lockdown in order to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.
Coronaviur has killed atleast 1150 people in the last 24 hours in the United States, and so far 10000 people have died because of the virus. More than 347,000 Americans have been infected with the virus and more than 18,000 have recovered, according to the Johns Hopkins data.
No official drug has yet been discovered to treat the coronavirus. However, the demand for hydroxychloroquine, which has huge reserves in India, has a lot of demand.
On Saturday, India banned the export of the drug "without any exception". The order came even as the number of positive cases of Covid-19 spiked in the country.
Hydroxychloroquine could be bought over the counter and is fairly inexpensive. However, its purchase and use has been severely restricted ever since it was named as a possible treatment for Covid-19.
Mr Trump had called India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, a day after the country banned the export of hydroxychloroquine, which it manufactures in large quantities.
Hydroxychloroquine is very similar to Chloroquine, one of the oldest and best-known anti-malarial drugs.
India is the world's largest supplier of hydroxychloroquine. Because in India, 70 percent of the total drug is manufactured here.
The drug - which can also treat auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus - has also attracted attention over the past few decades as a potential antiviral agent.
Although hydroxychloroquine is not a coronavirus drug, it is used to prevent infection and has had positive results in some places.
