Coronavirus Highlights: Maharashtra Reports 22,122 New Covid-19 Cases Along With 361 Deaths
Coronavirus Highlights, Monday, May 24: Amid the massive scare of black fungus in the country As many as seven recovered Covid patients have been diagnosed with invasive aspergillosis, commonly known as white fungus, so far in Ghaziabad. Various states are facing a shortage of vaccines and have shut inoculation for 18+. US pharmaceutical firm Moderna has refused to send supplies of its Covid vaccine directly to Punjab saying that the company will deal only with the Government of India.
Mumbai: In a significant move, the Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that it will treat all patients suffering from mucormycosis at designated hospitals free of cost besides planning to cap the treatment rates in private hospitals.
The treatment will be given at pre-identified hospitals and nursing homes in the state under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana and the Pradhan Mantra Jan Arogya Yojana.
The government also informed a division bench at the Aurangabad Bench, comprising Justice R.V. Ghuge and Justice B.U. Debadwar that a GR to this effect has been issued on May 18.
While 130 hospitals in the state are notified under these two schemes, another 1000 shall be empaneled and the medicines required for mycormycosis treatment shall be provided free of cost, it said.
Given the high cost of treatment for the disease, the state is also planning to cap the treatment cost in private hospitals.
"It is thus, apparent that the state of Maharashtra has come up with a specific policy to treat mucormycosis. Private hospitals too will be restrained from raising astronomical bills," the judges noted.
It further said that it expects the state government to accord wide publicity to this policy so that the poorest of poor, the illiterate or semi-literate and persons in remotest or tribal areas become aware of the same.
According to Health Minister Rajesh Tope, Maharashtra has till date witnessed over 1,500-plus mucormycosis cases and more than 100 deaths, both highest in the country, besides shortages of the drug Liposomal Amphotericin-B used to treat the disease. (IANS)
Cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country exceeded 19.84 crores (19,84,43,550) as per the 8 pm provisional report today: Union Health Ministry
Maharashtra: Pune Municipal Corporation says vaccination at all government centres in the city to remain closed tomorrow, due to shortage of vaccines.
Former athlete Milkha Singh, who had tested COVID19 positive on May 20, admitted to Fortis Hospital Mohali as a precautionary measure, confirms his son
Andhra Pradesh reports 12,994 new COVID cases, 18,373 patient recoveries, and 96 deaths in past 24 hours.
- Active cases: 2,03,762
- Total recoveries: 13,79,837
- Death toll: 10,222
Night curfew from 6 PM to 5 AM will continue. Weekend curfew from 6 PM on May 28 to 5 AM on May 31 will continue in Chandigarh. Only essential shops will be allowed to remain open during the weekend curfew while all shops will be allowed to remain open from 9 AM to 3 PM, following COVID protocols. All shopping malls, cinema halls, theatres, museums, gym, libraries, spa, salons, Sukhna Lake & Rock Garden will continue to remain closed. Restaurants will be allowed to operate for home delivery & take-aways.
Delhi AIIMS Director Dr. Randeep Guleria in a press conference on Monday clarified various doubts and concersn around deadly fungal ingection detected in Covid patients. Guleria reportedly said, "People with low immunity are infected with mucormycosis, Candida & asporogenous infections. These fungi mainly found in sinuses, nose, bone around eyes & can enter brain. Occasionally found in lungs(pulmonary mucormycosis) or in gastrointestinal tract. The colour of fungus can be seen differently if it develops in different areas. Fungal infection is not a communicable disease."
RDIF and Panacea Biotec launch the production of Sputnik V in India. India's Panacea Biotec now to produce 100 million doses of Sputnik V per year: Sputnik V
Black fungus has been declared a notified disease. In terms of its treatment-- a factory in Rudrapur will start production of a medicine. It will reduce the shortage of the injection: Tripti Bahuguna, DG Health
We’ve received a letter of refusal. Central govt should take an initiative & support state government in procuring vaccines: Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on vaccine manufacturer Moderna refusing to send vaccine directly to Punjab govt
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that if Bharat Biotech is ready to share their vaccine formula then why is centre not allowing them to share the details with the 16 companies which are capable to manufacture vaccine and would help India battle the crisis.
The Delhi CM also said that there is no vaccine left for the residents and they have placed an order for more
The government of India has so far provided more than 21.80 crore COVID19 vaccine doses (21,80,51,890) to States/UTs. More than 1.80 crore vaccine doses (1,80,43,015) are still available with the States/UTs to be administered: Govt of India
Union Health Minister Dr. Harsh Vardhan chairs the 27th Group of Ministers Meeting on COVID 19 "Till now, 5,424 cases of Mucormycosis reported in 18 States/UTs. Out of 5,424 cases, 4,556 patients have history of COVID19 infection. 55% of the patients had diabetes," he says.
Fresh COVID-19 infections in India dipped to 2,22,315, the lowest in round 38 days, pushing the total tally of coronavirus cases to 2,67,52,447, while the death toll crossed the 3-lakh mark, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.
The death toll climbed to 3,03,720 with 4,454 daily deaths, the data updated at 8 am showed.
India had registered 2,17,353 new infections on April 16.
The active cases have further reduced to 27,20,716 comprising 10.17 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 88.69 per cent. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,37,28,011, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.14 per cent, the data stated.
All the hospitals have been strictly instructed to report the number of death of the patients on the same day, failing which, strict action will be taken: Uttarakhand Health Secretary Amit Negi
America’s top infectious diseases expert Dr Anthony Fauci says he is “not convinced” COVID-19 developed naturally, and called for an open investigation into the virus’ origins. “There’s a lot of cloudiness around the origins of Covid-19 still, so I wanted to ask, are you still confident that it developed naturally?” Fauci was asked at an event. “No actually,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) said. “I am not convinced about that, I think we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we continue to find out to the best of our ability what happened.”
Uttar Pradesh recorded less than 5,000 fresh coronavirus cases for the first time since the middle of last month. A total of 4,844 new cases were registered in the state in the last 24 hours, making it the lowest single-day count for Uttar Pradesh since mid-April. As many as 14,086 have recovered from the disease. The drop in fresh cases is by 34,000 when compared to 38,055 infections registered at the pandemic’s peak on April 24.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Sunday said it will implement ‘walk-in’ vaccination for citizens at its centres from Monday to Wednesday. A statement issued by it said citizens aged 60 years and above will get the first and the second dose of the Covishield vaccine during this period. Health workers and frontline workers as well as 45 years and above will get the second dose.
The vaccination of people in the 18-44 age group against COVID-19 will be expanded to all district headquarters in Uttar Pradesh from June 1, a state government spokesperson said on Sunday.
Currently, people in the 18-44 age group are being inoculated in only 23 of the state's 75 districts, he said.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed that vaccination of people in the 18-44 age group against COVID-19 should begin from June 1, the spokesperson said.
Inoculation of beneficiaries in this age group began on May 1 in Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Prayagraj, Meerut and Bareilly districts, he said.
On May 10, the vaccination drive was expanded to 17 district headquarters having municipal corporations and Gautam Buddh Nagar district. In the third phase, the number of districts was increased to 23, he added.
The COVID-19 situation continued to be grim in Bihar on Sunday as improvements in rates of infection and recovery notwithstanding, over 100 fatalities were reported and the death toll surged past the 4,500-mark.
According to the health department, 107 more patients succumbed to the dreaded virus and the toll stands at 4,549.
The state logged 4,002 fresh cases, pushing the tally to 6.89 lakh.
Bihar now has 40,691 active cases, a sharp drop since a few weeks ago when it was in excess of one lakh, while 6.44 lakh people have recovered from the virus so far.
Recovery rate has also improved to 93.44 per cent, far above the national average, the department said.
Lockdown was extended on Sunday in Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Puducherry, with many states already imposing COVID-induced restrictions till May-end to rein in the spread of infection and the mounting deaths which crossed the three lakh mark.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that the ongoing lockdown in the national capital will continue for another week and said the process of "unlock" will start from May 31 in a phased manner if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline.
The Rajasthan government, which extended the coronavirus lockdown by 15 days till June 8, also said the state may allow some relaxations in commercial activities from June 1 in districts where the COVID-19 situation will show significant improvement.
Extending the lockdown till May 31, the Haryana government said the positivity and fatality rates have to be brought down further, though it did allow some relaxations in the curbs.
As many as seven recovered Covid patients have been diagnosed with invasive aspergillosis, commonly known as white fungus, so far in Ghaziabad.
According to the health department, while cases of white fungus are new, as many as 41 patients of mucormycosis or black fungus are being treated in the district as of now.
Background
Coronavirus Highlights, Monday, May 24: US pharmaceutical firm Moderna has refused to send supplies of its Covid vaccine directly to Punjab saying that, according to its official policy, the company will deal only with the Government of India. The Amarinder Singh administration had reached out to all such manufacturers looking for direct purchases, officials said.
Punjab is exploring possibilities of floating a global tender to procure vaccines from all possible sources, including Sputnik V manufacturer Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, state nodal officer for vaccination, Vikas Garg, said.
As many as seven recovered Covid patients have been diagnosed with invasive aspergillosis, commonly known as white fungus, so far in Ghaziabad.
According to the health department, while cases of white fungus are new, as many as 41 patients of mucormycosis or black fungus are being treated in the district as of now. However, at least three patients in the district have developed both the fungal infections, doctors said.
The Harsh ENT Hospital in Raj Nagar has a total of 26 such patients – seven are patients of white fungus while the rest are black fungus patients.
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