The state has updated its home-isolation treatment protocol and one type of drug is conspicuously missing: antibiotics.
The new protocol includes tablets of Vitamin C (500 mg), Zinc (50 mg), Paracetamol (500 mg), antihistamine Levocetirizine (10 mg), and Pantoprazole (40 mg), in addition to antitussive cough syrup.
A member of the State Clinical Treatment Committee said that antibiotics had been removed from the treatment protocol because it is not needed.
"A viral infection is not treated with antibiotics. Although they were widely prescribed in the second wave, medical facts show that it is not required for mildly symptomatic cases such as those in home isolation," the expert said, adding that antibiotics are used primarily for the treatment of secondary infections.
Secondary infections in Covid-19 cases arise if people take drugs that are not supposed to be used, the expert noted.
As of January 18, the state had 1,32,575 Covid-infected people in home isolation.
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