NEW DELHI: Even as the number of fresh coronavirus cases have come down in the national capital, black fungus infection in patients remains a concern.
Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Thursday said that till Wednesday, a total of 1,044 black fungus (mucormycosis) cases were reported in the city.
“Out of these 1,044 cases, 92 patients have recovered fully while 89 people have lost their lives,” said the minister. Mucormycosis is more common among people whose immunity has got lowered due to Covid, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac disorders, age-related issues, or those on medication for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis
According to the daily health bulletin of Thursday, new infections have gone below 500. The death toll, too, has fallen below 50. Delhi recorded 487 fresh cases, lowest since March 16.
“In the peak of this phase, Delhi witnessed over 28,000 cases in 24 hours but now the number is coming down which is a good sign. Before the second phase of the pandemic, the daily cases in Delhi used to be within 200. My appeal to every citizen is that please maintain social distance, wear a mask all the time and wash your hands from time to time,” the health minister stated.
Speaking about vaccination, Jain said the Delhi government is fully prepared and has the best facility to vaccinate the entire population.
“But we are not getting the required vaccines from the Centre. I understand that many people who have taken the first jab of Covaxin are not getting the scheduled second dose in Delhi. The situation has become like this because of the mismanagement on the behalf of the Centre. If it had given us the required number of vaccines, no problem should have happened. But they are not providing vaccines,” he said.
"I think it is high time to rethink this policy (Centre's vaccination policy) and rework it. When a state is ready to vaccinate its citizens then that state must get the required number of vaccines," he said.
While stressing that the Delhi government is fully prepared to vaccinate its entire population, he said they are not getting the required doses to do so.
"We are buying these vaccines and giving them for free to the citizens but due to the policy of the central government, we are not getting the required amount of vaccines.
"The whole control over the vaccines and the price of the vaccines are with the central government. The cost of the vaccines in the private hospitals is also monitored by the central government," he said.
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said if the city government could not ensure that people get both doses of Covaxin within the stipulated time, it should not have started so many vaccination centres with "much pomp and splendour".
"I understand that many people who have taken the first jab of Covaxin are not getting the scheduled second jab in Delhi. The situation has become like this because of the mismanagement of the central government."
"They have changed the schedule of vaccination. If the central government had given us the required number of vaccines, then no problem would have happened. But they are not providing vaccines."
"We are hopeful that people who are waiting for the second dose of Covaxin will get it as early as possible," he told reporters here.
Experts have said that considering the rate of the spread of infection in Delhi, 80 per cent of the population might have already been infected by Covid.
"Maybe this is true if experts have said it. We will conduct a serosurvey of the population again and it will make things clear," he said.
According to the fifth serosurvey, conducted between January 15 and January 23, around 56 per cent of Delhi's population have developed antibodies against the deadly virus.
Delhi reported 576 fresh coronavirus cases and a positivity rate of 0.78 per cent on Wednesday.
(With PTI Inputs)