Every black fungus case must be reported before treatment: Karnataka govt

Since black fungus has been declared as a notifiable disease, hospitals are directed not to treat any such case without bringing it to the notice of the government authorities concerned, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State COVID task force head Dr Ashwathnarayan CN has said

Mysuru (Karnataka): Since black fungus has been declared as a notifiable disease, hospitals are directed not to treat any such case without bringing it to the notice of the government authorities concerned, Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and State COVID task force head Dr Ashwathnarayan CN said on Thursday.

Speaking with reporters during his visit to the Sutturu Mutt on Thursday, Dr Ashwathanarayan said, “The government is providing treatment for black fungus in all the six divisional centres of the state. Mysuru Medical College will provide treatment in this region. Private hospitals, too, will treat cases of black fungus."

He said the drug required to treat black fungus is currently being imported and that a few companies have come forward to manufacture it locally. "Once the manufacture begins here, there will no shortage of the drug," he said.

The Deputy CM said RAT/RT-PCR tests will be increased in all the 149 primary health care centres of Mysuru. "The aim is to bring down the rate of positive cases. To avoid delay in drug procurement, the process is now being carried out through the Karnataka State Drugs Logistics and Warehousing Society. This has ensured timely delivery of the required drugs," he said, adding that the government has taken steps to procure enough drugs to treat as many as 40 lakh people.

"Government labs have been strengthened to conduct one lakh tests each day and private hospitals can handle 75,000 RT-PCR tests per day. Besides this, 50,000 RAT tests are being carried out on a daily basis," he explained. According to Dr Ashwathnarayan, the government has already procured 30 lakh Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) kits and tenders have been floated to procure one RAT and RT-PCR kits.

"In the last one year, we have added 25,000 oxygenated beds and 3,000 ventilators. Karnataka has been allocated the highest number of Remdesivir, only behind Maharashtra," he informed.

Dr Ashwathnarayan said he was hopeful that at least the first dose of vaccination for all the citizens in Karnataka will be completed by December.