Let me also discuss two strategic interventions, out of many, which we have taken. The first is the widespread use of the drug, ivermectin, not just for treatment of cases but also as a prophylactic. The state government provides free medicines to all patients in home isolation or in government COVID-19 facilities, which have more than 1.5 lakh beds. We have used the combination of ivermectin and doxycyclin to successfully treat over three lakh home-isolated patients with mild symptoms so far. This combination has also been used by the hospitals across the state for admitted COVID-19 patients. But what is more interesting is the state’s successful use of ivermectin as a prophylactic.

In the beginning of the pandemic, the Agra model of containment had been hailed for its efficiency. But with a spurt of cases in May-June, there was a sense of despondency in the management team. That is when the team, relying on the wisdom of its young district surveillance officer who had been successfully using ivermectin as prophylactic for his rapid-response teams, started administering this medicine to the close contacts of positive cases in the district. This gave them positive results. We took note at the state headquarters, and asked a technical team to look into it. It recommended that it can be tried across the state as a prophylactic. Recognising the sense of urgency, we decided to go ahead. Many other states have also followed suit. Last month, AIIMS Bhubaneswar published a study that found that ivermectin had prophylactic functions but we have been using it in the state from July itself with considerable success.