Anantapur district on Tuesday reported 13 new cases of mucormycosis, also called black fungus, taking the total number of patients being treated in the Government General Hospital and other private hospitals to 40.
While the first 27 cases were reported in past five days, it is for the first time that the district saw 13 cases in one day. Officials, concerned at the rise in cases, have flagged shortage of drugs required for the treatment.
The district reported no deaths due to the fungal infection, though three persons, who had gone out of the State from Anantapur for treatment, had died. District Collector Gandham Chandrudu has instructed officials to identify an exclusive hospital for treating patients of mucormycosis.
Meanwhile, COVID positivity rate in the district on Tuesday dropped to 20% after a month. Out of the 5,148 samples tested, 1,034 turned out positive till 10 a.m. on Tuesday. The last time the positivity rate fell to 20% was on April 28 when it was 20.03%.
Acute shortage of oxygen
Despite the decline in new infections, an acute shortage of medical oxygen was reported in the district, which led to all private hospitals halting admission of new patients needing oxygen support.
The district officials hope that the situation would improve today as the Oxygen Express, carrying 80 MT of Liquid Medical Oxygen(LMO), reached Tadipatri on Tuesday. Out of this, Anantapur district has been allocated 17.6 MT. The remaining will be sent to hospitals in adjoining districts - Kadapa, Kurnool, and Chittoor - Anantapur Oxygen Monitoring Committee member R. Jagannath Singh told The Hindu.
In addition to this, work on setting up of oxygen generators at Hindupur and Kadiri Government Hospitals with the help of the Defence Research and Development Organisation is in progress, while the site for setting up similar units at Government General Hospital and Super Speciality Hospital in Anantapur and Guntakal Government Hospital has been identified.
Anantapur MP Talari Rangaiah said that the Hindupur plant might be operational within the next one week to 10 days, but others might take some time.
Alarming figures
While urban areas see a decline, the number of deaths in rural areas is on the rise and the cumulative positivity rate has gone up from 3.3% on April 24 to 6.3% on May 24, indicating a high rate of infection.
