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Jharkhand govt declares Mucormycosis an epidemic
The Jharkhand cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to declare highly infectious Mucormycosis, known as Black Fungus in common parlance, an epidemic in the state
The Jharkhand cabinet on Tuesday approved a proposal to declare highly infectious Mucormycosis, known as Black Fungus in common parlance, an epidemic in the state.
The infection, that has a high mortality rate, has witnessed a spike in several states and has also been on the rise in Jharkhand. As per the health department statistics, 26 people have fallen to the infection in Jharkhand this year.
“The Cabinet has approved the proposal to declare Mucormycosis an epidemic. The approved proposal has rules and regulations to contain the disease. Besides other regulations, now all private and government hospitals will have to inform the competent authority about emergence of the infection,” Vandana Dadel, state Cabinet secretary told media persons after the Cabinet meeting.
As per the health department, the state till now has registered at least 82 confirmed and 54 suspected cases of Mucormycosis. “Till now 26 persons have died due to the disease. One person died on Monday in Hazaribagh. However, 52 persons have also been discharged from different hospitals in the state,” said Siddharth Tripathi, nodal officer of health department’s IEC (Information, Education and Communication) wing.
Of the total 136 confirmed and suspected cases in the state, the maximum 30 cases have been reported from capital city Ranchi, which has also recorded eight deaths, the most in the state, due to the infection, officials said.
Meanwhile, the state Cabinet also approved a proposal to extend services of doctors, who were scheduled to retire in the intervening period this year, up to March 2022.
“Those who were scheduled to retire between May and September 2021 have been given extension up to March 2022. Those who were set to retire between September 2021 and March 2022 have been given extension of six months from the scheduled date of their retirement,” said Dadel.
