Vientiane, Sep 8 : Pharmaceutical producers in Laos are to begin the production of herbal treatments for Covid-19 in capsule form. Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control under the Lao Ministry of Health, Rattanaxay Phetsouvanh, told a press conference in Lao capital Vientiane that Laos' Institute of Traditional Medicine (ITM) has researched the process of producing herbal medications in capsule form, which are now being used to treat patients infected with Covid-19, Xinhua news agency reported. "Medical personnel in Laos are already treating some 450 Covid-19 patients using herbal medicine capsules in the provinces of Champasak and Savannakhet," said Rattanaxay. "Herbal medicine has been seen to be effective in the treatment of respiratory diseases, particularly the Covid-19," he added. The Lao Ministry of Health on Tuesday reported 221 more imported Covid-19 cases and 86 new locally transmitted cases, bringing the total number of coronavirus infections to 16,365. A total of 11,330 Covid-19 patients have recovered from the pandemic and been discharged from hospitals. Laos reported its first two confirmed cases of Covid-19 on March 24 last year. /IANS