COVID-19: Hydroxychloroquine consignment from India reaches US

at 12:22 pm

New Delhi (NVI): Days after India lifted a ban on the export of Hydroxychloroquine drug to the US and some other countries, a consignment of the anti-malarial drug has arrived at Newark in New Jersey.

Indian Ambassador to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu said in a tweet: “Supporting our partners in the fight against #Covid19. Consignment of hydroxichloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today.”

India is the largest exporter of the HCQ drug, seen as helpful in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

The development comes days after US President Donald Trump had requested India for the anti-malarial drug, in the wake of a large number of Covid-19 deaths in the country.

On the request from the US, India cleared the export of 35.82 lakh tablets of hydroxychloroquine to the US along with nine metric tons of active pharmaceutical ingredient or API required in the manufacturing of the drug.

The US President had on Wednesday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his strong leadership, in response to the Indian government’s decision to ease restrictions on the export of hydroxychloroquine.

The next day, PM Modi had also responded to the US President for his gratitude, saying “times like these bring friends closer”.

With over 20,000 deaths now, the United States has surpassed Italy in the highest coronavirus death toll.

Yesterday, the US recorded the highest number of COVID-19 deaths in a single day with more than 2,000 fatalities.