Government on Wednesday banned export of anti-malarial drug Hydroxychloroquine and formulations made from it in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak.

It is aimed at ensuring sufficient availability of the medicine in the domestic market. However, export of the medicine will be allowed on humanitarian grounds on case-to-case basis as per the recommendation of Ministry of External Affairs.

Earlier, Indian Council of Medical Research had recommended the use of hydroxychloroquine for treating healthcare workers handling suspected or confirmed coronavirus cases and also the asymptomatic household contacts of the lab-confirmed cases.