With over 1,100 cases in only five cities, mucormycosis declared an epidemic in Gujarat

Hours after the central government asked the states to declare it as an epidemic, the Vijay Rupani government in Gujarat on Thursday evening announced mucormycosis or black fungus as an epidemic under Epidemic Disease Act, 1857. A disease is declared epidemic by governments by notifying it under this act.

A brief statement released by the state government announced the decision, stating that all hospitals- government as well as private- treating this disease will have to report to the government on all confirmed cases. According to various reports, Gujarat is said to be one of the worst affected states by the black fungus.

As per estimates, five major cities- Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Jamnagar-alone have reported over 1,100 cases. In Ahmedabad civil hospital special ward, there were 371 cases by Thursday evening. "As on today, we have 371 cases out of which surgery was performed on 156. On average, we are getting 25-26 fresh cases daily," medical superintendent J V Modi told DH.

Similarly, Rajkot is reported to have over 400 cases, followed by Surat and Vadodara each having nearly 150 cases and Jamnagar with nearly 100 cases. These cases are under treatment at eight government hospitals in these cities. However, there is no consolidated figure from the hospitals across the state including private ones.

Also read: DH Deciphers | Mucormycosis or Black Fungus: A double whammy for Covid patients?

When contacted, state health minister Nitin Patel said that he was not well enough to comment. "I am resting after recovering from Covid-19," he said. Earlier in the day, he had virtually inaugurated an oxygen plant and addressed the gathering which was live telecast on Facebook.

For the first time on May 8, the Rupani government acknowledged the large-scale prevalence of the disease and announced the setting up of special wards for treatment. Since then the cases of black fungal, which is largely affecting Covid-19 patients, has been increasing as well as the demand of antifungal drug Amphotericin-B. The life-saving drug is in acute shortage in the state. The fungal infection has left people losing their eyesights, teeth and jaws.

Recently, the Gujarat high court, during the hearing on suo moto PIL on the Covid-19 situation, had taken note of the surging disease and sought details from the government. The government submitted that the state had placed orders for over 1.24 lakh vials of Amphotericin. On Thursday, the state also issued a circular which notified certain government hospitals to get the doses for which people will have to bring doctors' prescription, case details, Aadhar card copy, among other details. This "rationing" of the medicine is in the line of Remdesivir for which people had to wait in line for hours.

Curbs eased in Gujarat

Meanwhile, the Gujarat government on Thursday announced lifting of Covid-19 curbs on commercial establishments from 36 cities in view of declining daily positive cases. These establishments and street vendors have been permitted to do business from 9 AM to 3 PM from May 21.

The state government never imposed complete lockdown in the state in the second wave but brought restrictions such as night curfew, from 8 PM to 6 AM, and closure of commercial entities barring essential services including medicine stores, eateries and provisional stores. The night curfew will remain in place, said a statement released by the government.