Anti-malaria drug, to be used for treatment of coronavirus, reaches the US

New Delhi : A consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India has reached in the United States, days after India lifted ban on the export of the anti-malarial drug, which is seen as the best probable solution for the treatment of coronavirus.

Earlier this week, India at the request of President Donald Trump 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.

"Supporting our partners in the fight against COVID-19. Consignment of hydroxychloroquine from India arrived at Newark airport today (Saturday)," India's Ambassador to the US Taranjit Singh Sandhu tweeted.

In a phone call last week, the US President Donald Trump had requested PM Narendra Modi to lift the ban on export of the medicine. 

India, which manufactures 70 per cent of the world's supply of hydroxychloroquine, lifted the ban on April 7.

Anticipating that it will work, given initial positive results, Trump has bought more than 29 million doses of hydroxychloroquine for potential treatment of COVID-19 patients.

Till last report, more than 1.6 million people were tested positive to the coronavirus and more than one lakh people have been reported dead.