A COVID-19 care centre has been set up inside a cow shelter (also known as gaushala) in Tetoda village in the Banaskantha district of Gujarat. In the isolation shelter, apart from normal treatment, patients are also being treated using Ayurvedic medicines made from cow milk and urine.
Reports also confirm that patients have been asked to smear cow dung for better results and to boost immunity.
The centre is named the Vedalakshana Panchgavya Ayurved COVID isolation centre.
"We are primarily using Panchgavya Ayurved therapy to treat patients having COVID-19 symptoms. We use 'gau tirth', which is made from the urine of 'desi' cows and other herbs. Then there is a treatment for cough, and here to we use cow urine-based medicine. We also have an immunity booster, 'chawanprash,' which prepared from cow milk", Mohan Jadhav, a trustee of the Vedalakshana Panchgavya Ayurved COVID isolation centre, told reporters.
According to local media reports, the centre has 50 beds, out of which 40 are occupied.
Speaking to Sputnik, Dr Ajay Dimri said, "There is no science behind setting up [an] isolation centre for mild COVID-19 patient[s] in [a] gaushala".
"But, the patient should not directly come in contact with animals. As we don't have any study which confirms COVID-19 spread in animals but, we should avoid direct contact as preventive measures", Dimri said.
"The ayurvedic treatment provided at the gaushala cannot replace allopathic treatment in COVID cases, and definitely not in severe ones when the oxygen saturation level is low", he said, adding, "Food habits play an important role in the treatment of COVID-19 and if a patient is getting organic and natural food, there is no harm".
On Monday, the state reported 11,084 fresh infections, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 6,69,928. In addition, 119 deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to 8,273, the state's Health Department said.
India has reported 366,161 new COVID-19 positive cases and at least 3,754 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry. The total caseload has crossed 22.3 million, with more than 246,146 lives having been lost since the onset of the pandemic.