2,282 black fungus cases in Karnataka: Govt to HC

BENGALURU: The State Government on Thursday informed the Karnataka High Court that the state has reported 2,282 cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) till June 9.According to the statement filed before the special division bench of Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice Aravind Kumar by Additional Advocate General Dhyan Chinnappa, the government said that of the 2,282 cases, 1,947 are under treatment, 102 are cured, 157 have died and 76 were discharged against medical advise.

Among the districts, Bengaluru Urban stands first with 787 cases, followed by Dharwad (202), Belagavi (138) and Kalaburagi (137). The deaths in these districts are 55, 14, 6 and 16, respectively. Similarly, in response to the directives issued by the court, the Union Government’s counsel MN Kumar filed a statement before it stating that 37,980 vials of Amphotericin-B have been allocated to Karnataka from May 11 to June 9, 2021, to treat black fungus. The Centre stated that equitable distribution and allotments are being made to the states in accordance to the proportion of their caseload.  

Recording the statements of both the State and Central governments, the court directed the state to ensure adequate beds and drugs to treat mucormycosis cases and ensure that the updated guidelines of ICMR on “Do’s and Don’ts” is provided to all the hospitals.