Four medical colleges identified to treat cases of black fungus in Haryana: CM Khattar

A day after declaring Mucormycosis or black fungus a notified disease, the Haryana government on Sunday designated four hospitals in the state where people who have contracted this infection will be treated. The state government has also spoken to the Centre for allocation of medicines required for its treatment, amidst a shortage.

This was revealed by Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday evening, while addressing the media after inaugurating a 100-bed field hospital for Covid patients at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium – the first of two such facilities he inaugurated during the day. The second was a 300-bed Covid care centre set up through joint efforts of M3M, CII, Indian Air Force, and NGO Doctors for You, in Sector 67.

Admitting that cases of black fungus have been emerging in Haryana – with a total of 70 cases reported in the state so far – Khattar said, “Some of these patients are being treated at home and some in hospitals. We have also identified four medical colleges that have physicians of a good level and will also have the facility to conduct surgeries when required for such patients. The hospitals will have expert doctors; if surgery is needed, that will be done and if the infection can be treated through medicine that will be done.”

The colleges identified, Khattar said, are SGT Medical College in Gurgaon, Maharaja Agrasen Medical College in Agroha, PGIMS in Rohtak, and the Kalpana Chawla Medical College in Karnal.

Regarding medicines for the disease he said, “The medicines for this are expensive and since we do not know from before that this will happen, there is a shortage as well. We have today spoken to the central government and some medicines will be allocated at the state level today itself. A board will be constituted which will decide which patients require the medicine and the patients for who the board approves the medicine, it will be administered to them.”

Asked about the government’s preparedness for a third Covid wave, Khattar said Haryana is “ready for it” and will “fight it together”.

“People have also started talking of the third wave, and although we hope that such a wave does not come, if it does, we are ready for it and will fight it together. Our philosophy is hope for the best, prepare for the worst,” he said.

Khattar was speaking on the first of his two-day visit to Gurgaon, during which he will be inaugurating a total of three Covid care centres – two on the first day and one on the second – adding a total of 500 beds to the district’s capacity for Covid patients.

“In Tau Devi Lal Stadium, with the help of Vedanta Group, a 100-bed temporary hospital has been set up, of which 80 are oxygen beds and 20 are ICU beds. The medical equipment has been provided by Vedanta Group while the staff is from Doctors For You. Apart from this, doctors from the Civil Surgeon’s Office will also be deployed here,” said Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg.

“Similarly, a 300-bed Covid Care Centre has been set up in Sector 67… Infrastructure and operation support at this centre will be provided by M3M, CII and Indian Air Force while doctors will again be provided by Doctors for You,” he said.

While these two facilities were inaugurated on Sunday, the third Covid Care Centre, which has a capacity of 100 beds and has been set up by Hero Group, will be inaugurated on Monday.

“The hospital has been set up in the college auditorium of the Government Girls College in Sector 14 and has 100 oxygen beds. The requirement for oxygen will be fulfilled by the district administration, but the Hero Group has also made arrangements for 100 oxygen concentrators. Hero Group and Doctors For You will also collaborate to arrange doctors and medicines for the facility, under the supervision of the Civil Surgeon’s Office,” said Garg.

“Cleanliness and disposal of biomedical waste at these three Covid care centres will be the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and security will be handled by Gurgaon Police. The volunteers of Gurujal Society and Civil Defense will also cooperate in the operation of these centres. If a patient becomes serious, there will be a system to shift them from these centres to hospitals,” said Garg.

After inaugurating the Tau Devi Lal facility, the latest in a slew of inaugurations Khattar has done of such facilities over the weekend, he said, “Haryana’s total bed capacity earlier was 17,500…Today, 1,500 more will be added so this will become 19,000… Earlier, we anyway had 3,000 or 4,000 beds spare.”