India recorded 28,252 cases of black fungus during 2nd wave: Govt

New Delhi: India has reported about 28,252 cases of mucormycosis, a fungal infection, following the second wave of Covid-19, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday

The Health Minister shared the figures while chairing the 28th meeting of the High-level Group of Ministers on Covid-19 through a video conference.

Out of the overall cases reported from 28 states, 86 per cent (24,370 cases) have a history of Covid-19 infection and 62.3 per cent (17,601) have a history of diabetes, the minister said.

Maharashtra has reported the maximum number of Mucormycosis cases (6,339) followed by Gujarat (5,486).

According to Vardhan, till May 25 night, over 768 mucormycosis cases were being treated in Andhra Pradesh followed by Madhya Pradesh (752), Telangana (744), Uttar Pradesh (701), Central institutions (592), Rajasthan (492), Karnataka (481), Haryana (436), Tamil Nadu (236), Bihar (215), Punjab (141), Uttarakhand (124), Delhi (119), Chhattisgarh (103), Chandigarh (83), Kerala (36), Jharkhand (29), Odisha (15), Goa (10), Jammu and Kashmir (5), Himachal Pradesh (3), Puducherry (2) and Tripura (1).

Mucormycosis is one of the rapidly spreading infections observed in patients recovering from Covid-19.

Mucormycosis is a serious but rare fungal infection caused by a group of moulds called micromycetes that has been developing in Covid-19 patients. The fungal disease is commonly being observed in patients who were given steroids for a long time, who have been hospitalised for a long time, were on oxygen support or ventilator, faced poor hospital hygiene or those who have been taking medication for other illnesses such as diabetes.

On the testing front, the Union Health Minister noted that "as of June 7 morning, we have conducted over 36.6 crores (36,63,34,111) tests so far and over 15 lakh tests yesterday despite being a holiday".

"The labs for testing purposes have also gone up to 2,624. Daily Positivity Rate has also been declining and is at 6.34 per cent and even though this is less than 10 per cent positivity rate for 14 consecutive days, there still are 15 states where the daily positivity rate is greater than 10 per cent."

In the second wave, the Minister said we see that continuously daily cases are declining and are outnumbered by new recoveries 83 per cent of active cases are in 10 states and the remaining 17 per cent in 26 states and Union Territories.