Over 1000 cases of black fungus in Delhi: Minister

Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain has said 1,044 cases of black fungus were reported in the national captial till Wednesday.

New Delhi: Delhi recorded 1,044 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus and 89 deaths due to the infection till Wednesday, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said.

He said 92 patients have recovered and also pointed out that there is a shortage of medicines to treat the infection.

Commenting about the vaccination drive, Jain said, "the vaccination programme was prepared according to the schedule given by the Centre. But they changed the schedule. If the Covaxin supply would have been coming, we would have administered the second doses to people. We are trying to procure the vaccines quickly."

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said if the city government could not ensure that people get both doses of Covid-19 vaccine, Covaxin, within the stipulated time, it should not have started so many vaccination centres with "much pomp and splendour".

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Delhi reported 576 fresh coronavirus cases at a positivity rate of 0.78 per cent on Wednesday.

"We are seeing a decline in the number of cases. There was a time when the number of fresh cases had touched 28,000. When the cases were less, the number was around 150-200, but it is higher than those figures currently. People should wear masks while stepping out and follow the social-distancing norms," the minister said.

With inputs from PTI