The Union Ministry of Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy has said that the new products that Patanjali Ayurved has launched for the coronavirus can be used for “management” of the disease, ThePrint reported on Wednesday.

The news website said it had accessed a letter the ministry wrote to the Uttarakhand State Licensing Authority on Tuesday. However, the ministry’s letter did not clarify what it meant by “management”. There is no known cure for the coronavirus.

“It is observed that Divya Pharmacy, Patanjali Research Foundation Trust, Haridwar has initiated necessary actions for the management of Covid-19 appropriately, which is duly noted,” the letter said. “It was observed that the proposed drug Divya Coronil Tablet is registered by the SLA as an immunity-booster, especially against the respiratory tract involvement and all types of fever.”

The ministry wrote the letter a day after a 17-member task force recommended to it that Patanjali Ayurved should sell medicines for cough, fever and boosting immunity. The AYUSH Ministry had last week prohibited Patanjali Ayurved from advertising its new products, and asked it to provide several details about the products, their preparation and the clinical tests carried out.

Ramdev confirms AYUSH Ministry’s directive

Yoga guru and Patanjali Ayurved founder Ramdev claimed on Wednesday that the Ministry of AYUSH said that his company had done “appropriate work” for the management of the coronavirus, PTI reported.

“I want to tell people who want to try these medicines that there is no restriction on their sale now and they will be available in a kit everywhere in the country from today,” Ramdev said at a press conference in Haridwar, referring to the products Coronil and Swasari. Ramdev said the ministry had told him to use the term “Covid management” in place of “Covid treatment” for the products, which he had decided to adhere to.

Ramdev said Patanjali had secured a licence from the Uttarakhand government’s department connected to the Ministry of AYUSH, ANI reported. He said the products have no metallic items. “I thank the AYUSH Ministry and Narendra Modi government,” the yoga guru added.

However, the Uttarakhand government had said after Patanjali launched the products last week that it had given permission to the firm only to manufacture an immunity booster medicine.

Patanjali Ayurved Chief Executive Officer Acharya Balkrishna said earlier on Wednesday that the company never claimed that its new products could cure the coronavirus. “We [Patanjali] said that we had made medicines and used them in clinical controlled trials which cured corona patients,” Balkrishna said. “There is no confusion in it.”

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Ramdev alleges promoting yoga, Ayurveda in India is a ‘crime’

On Friday, the Jaipur Police filed a first information report against Ramdev, Balkrishna and three others for making misleading claims about finding a cure for the coronavirus. Reacting to this, Ramdev claimed on Wednesday that it appeared to be a crime to promote yoga and Ayurveda in India. “FIRs have been lodged at hundreds of places in the same way cases are registered against a traitor and a terrorist,” he alleged.

Ramdev added that Patanjali Ayurved has a team of “500 scientists who are working day and night”. He alleged that Patanjali’s clinical trials have hit multinational corporations and the “drug mafia” hard.

Ramdev also reiterated Patanjali’s claim that the clinical trials had showed the new products to be effective on 100% of coronavirus patients within seven days. “We submitted data to the AYUSH Ministry,” he said according to NDTV. “Our research is in line with all protocols.”

The yoga guru asserted that this was not the first time Patanjali was conducting research on virology. “We have completed three-level research of more than 10 diseases including hypertension, heart diseases, asthma, arthritis, dengue, chikungunya, swine flu,” he said.

India is the fourth-most affected country in the world, with 5,85,493 infections, including 17,400 deaths as of Wednesday evening, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.