Listen in to what All India Institute Of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria has to say on Covid-19. One of the few trusted voices in India working closely with the government. 

In last 1 year of COVID management, we have learnt that two things are most important -- drugs and timing of drugs. If you give them too early/late, it would cause harm. Giving cocktail of drugs on day 1 can kill your patient and would be more harmful.

"It's important to understand that Remdesivir isn't a magic bullet and isn't a drug that decreases mortality. We may use it as we don't have an anti-viral drug. It's of no use if given early to asymptomatic individuals/ones with mild symptoms. It is also of no use, if given late. "Remdesivir should only be given to patients who are hospitalised, had fall in oxygen saturation and have infiltrates on the chest X-ray or CT-scan.

"Recovery trials showed that steroids will benefit but it's also important to know when they're given. If given early before your saturation (O2) falls, it has harmful effect. COVID patients who got steroids early had higher mortality than those who didn't."

The Centre had on April 11 prohibited exports of injection Remdesivir and Remdesivir Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) till the Covid-19 situation in the country improves. India again reported the highest single-day spike of coronavirus cases with over 2.73 lakh fresh infections and 1,619 deaths in the last 24 hours on Monday.

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