50 people have died due to black fungus in Haryana, 650 more receiving treatment: Khattar

CHANDIGARH: Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday said 50 people have died due to black fungus in the state so far, while 650 more are undergoing treatment for the infection in various hospitals.

"There have been over 750 cases of black fungus in Haryana so far. Fifty-eight have been cured while 50 people have lost their lives and 650 patients are seeking treatment," Khattar said during a news conference here.

Addressing the conference virtually, he said the government was procuring the injection used in treatment of black fungus while some stock was already available and was being used in government hospitals.

"We have got 6,000 injection vials. Over the next two days, we will get 2,000 vials more while we have placed an order for another 5,000 vials," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Health Minister Anil Vij had directed officials to increase the number of beds in all government medical colleges of the state from 20 to 75 to treat patients infected with black fungus or mucormycosis.

Vij had directed officials that medicines should be made available to these patients as required without any delay and that there should be no shortage of injections and other medicines.

The number of black fungus or mucormycosis cases has been on the increase in the state during the past two weeks.

Earlier, Vij had said the state government has made a requisition of 12,000 injections of Amphotericin-B, the drug used for treating black fungus, from the central government.

The Haryana government had recently declared black fungus a notified disease, making it mandatory for doctors to report any case of the disease to the chief medical officer of the district concerned.