CHANDIGARH: Eight people have died of black fungus in Haryana as the state has so far reported 316 cases of the deadly infection, officials said on Thursday.
Of the total cases, the maximum 114 have been recorded in Gurgaon, followed by 45 in Sirsa, 42 in Faridabad, 31 in Hisar and 20 in Rohtak, they said.
Forty-eight fresh cases of black fungus were reported in Haryana on Thursday, the officials said.
With cases of black fungus or mucormycosis in the state on the rise, a meeting regarding management of the disease was held under the chairmanship of Health Minister Anil Vij on Thursday.
Vij said he has ordered to float a global tender to procure anti-fungal injection Amphotericin B along with one crore COVID-19 vaccines and Tocilizumab injection.
Besides, experts have been asked to look for alternate anti-fungal infections used in treatment of black fungus, he added.
He said the state government has already initiated steps, including reserving 20 beds in wards in medical colleges, for specialised treatment of the infection.
Vij said steps are being taken to ensure adequate availability of necessary drugs for the disease.
"We are also trying to import the medicines," he added.
The minister said black fungus was declared a notified disease in the state last week.
"Now, if any cases of this disease are found, the doctors will have to report them to the concerned chief medical officer (CMO)," he said.
He also said that senior doctors of PGIMS, Rohtak will conduct meetings through videoconferencing with all the doctors who are treating coronavirus patients in the state and inform them about the treatment of black fungus.
Mucormycosis (black fungus), which is primarily affecting people recovering from COVID-19, had claimed five lives in Sirsa district earlier this week, officials had said.
With lockdown currently enforced in the state, Vij said COVID-19 cases, which hovered around 16,000 per day three weeks ago, have now fallen to around 6,000 per day.
He said at present there are 12,000 non-oxygen beds and a sufficient number of oxygen beds for COVID-19 patients.
ICU beds and beds with ventilators are unoccupied as recoveries of coronavirus patients have increased and the number of fresh cases has fallen, the minister added.
Three weeks ago, active cases in the state were over 1.15 lakh, which have now come down to around 70,000, Vij said.
The state on Thursday reported 129 COVID-19-related deaths, taking the cumulative toll to 7,205 and 6,457 fresh infections which pushed the total case count to 7,22,964, officials said.
According to the health department's daily bulletin, the latest deaths include 12 from Jind, 11 each from Karnal and Hisar and 7 each from Sirsa, Ambala and Panchkula districts.
Of the fresh cases, Gurgaon reported 1,161 while 628 were from Hisar and 400 from Bhiwani.
The total active cases in the state are 62,352 while 6,53,40 people have recovered so far.
The positivity rate stands at 8.52 percent and the recovery rate is 90.38 per cent, the bulletin said.