Tamil Nadu government demands increased allocation of Remdesivir for COVID-19 treatment from Centre 

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has expressed concern with the Centre over 'low' allocation of Remdesivir, used in COVID-19 treatment, to the state and urged increased supply of the drug to meet the demand, the government said on Monday. Stalin raised the matter with Railway and Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal over the phone, an official release said Monday.

"The Central government has been doing the allocation of this medicine to all states. Accordingly, so far, 2.5 lakh vials have been allotted to Tamil Nadu, which is a low allocation of 7,000 per day," the release said. There was a minimum requirement of 20,000 vials a day and only such a quantity could be useful to meet the requirements of government and private hospitals in the state, Stalin told Goyal.

The Union Minister assured to look into Tamil Nadu's request, the release added. It further said 1.45 lakh people were under treatment for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu. Efforts were on to procure adequate stocks of Remdesivir to treat people with lung issues and the drug was being administered to the needy in all key government hospitals in the state and private facilities in six big cities, it said.