98 more cases of Black Fungus reported in Karnataka

Team Udayavani, May 18, 2021, 8:31 AM IST

Bengaluru: Ninety-eight cases of Black Fungus were reported in the State on Tuesday.

The State government has decided to provide free treatment to patients infected with the fungus as it is a disease related to COVID-19.

In a notification, the government stated, “All government and private hospitals must document Black Fungus cases and treat them for free. Patient information must be provided to the Department of Health. All required medicines will be sent to the hospitals.”

The Black Fungus infection is caused by the overuse of steroids and through contaminated ventilators.

The government also said measures would be taken to learn the source of contamination of oxygen.

A meeting of experts chaired by Minister Dr Sudhakar was also held on Monday where issues such as treatment, precautions, infection symptoms, drug inventory, and management of existing cases were discussed.

It was also decided to make Bengaluru’s Bowring Hospital, Manipal’s KMC, Mangaluru’s Wenlock Hospital, Mysuru’s MMC, Shivamogga’s SIMS, Kalaburagi’s GIMS and Hubballi’s KIMS as regional centres for the treatment of Black Fungus.