ICMR says no community transmission of the virus in India yetIndia to team up with WHO for drug trial

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 27

India will soon join the WHO solidarity trial to develop drugs against the Covid-19 strain that has spread to 199 nations causing 4.65 lakh cases and over 21,000 deaths worldwide.

The ICMR, India’s apex medical research body, is also watching 30 scientific groups working on Covid-19 vaccines and exploring possibilities of clinical trials at home if animal tests of the vaccine trials by other countries succeed.

The ICMR today urged the department of biotechnology to launch a dedicated vaccine development programme against Covid-19. India had last month isolated the viral strain.

“We are keeping a watch on some scientific groups working on vaccines. Currently, 30 groups are working on vaccines of which at least five are going into animal toxicity studies. We have indicated our willingness to go for vaccine trials for the Indian population if the ongoing vaccine studies by these scientific groups pass animal tests. Besides, we will soon likely start our participation in the WHO solidarity trial for new drugs. So far, we had not participated because our case load was so low that our contribution to the trial would have looked miniscule. The ICMR is also working to develop an indigenous Covid test kit. Until then we have ordered 3.4 million probes to ensure we do not run out of test kits at home. We are also looking to get kits from various countries, including China,” ICMR chief epidemiologist Raman Gangakhedkar today said.

The WHO had announced a solidarity trial on March 18. It was based on the understanding that multiple small trials won’t give the world clear, strong evidence needed quickly to find treatments and save lives. Argentina, Bahrain, Canada, France, Iran, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand have already said they would join WHO trial.

At home, Health Minister Harsh Vardhan held a video conference with state health ministers asking them to scale up the availability of protective equipment and N95 masks for health workers, after the national taskforce on Covid19 met here to discuss future strategy.

The government, meanwhile, suspects many recent travelers could have jumped the screening net and could spread the infection compromising potential gains expected from the strategy of testing and lockdown.

The ICMR today said so far there was no community transmission of COVID-19 in India.

To ensure the trend lasts, Cabinet Secretary Rajeev Gauba today wrote to state chief secretaries asking them to track all travellers to India before March 5 when universal screening was started.

The government also set up a national taskforce today with Secretaries of health, civil aviation, pharmaceuticals, textiles, consumer affairs, shipping and members of railway board to ensure there’s no shortage of personal protective gear and N95 masks for health workers. Local producers of these gears have been identified while DRDO and BEL will together deliver around 40,000 ventilators which serious Covid19 patients will need.

Meanwhile, AIIMS, New Delhi, today held an online Covid clinical management training for doctors across India.