VIJAYAWADA: No black fungus deaths have been reported in the State and a total of 252 cases have emerged from various districts so far, Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal said on Tuesday. The State government has sent 2,100 more Amphotericin-B vials to the districts to treat black fungus cases in addition to 900 vials already dispatched. Briefing the media about the Covid-19 situation in the State, he said with black fungus being declared an epidemic, all the information pertaining to the cases is being tabulated and sent to the health department.
The number is likely to cross the 75,000- mark on Wednesday as more stock will be sent to the district hospitals, he explained. With regard to oxygen supply, he said the State has enough stock to meet any emergency situation in the next 3-4 days. “Keeping Yaas in mind, we have started stocking over and above the allocated 590 MT of oxygen per day for the last 4-5 days. A total of 767 MT of oxygen was drawn on Tuesday, which is 170 MT more than the allocation. About 630-640 MT is being supplied to hospitals and the rest is being stocked as a buffer,” he said.
Making it clear that there is no change in the vaccination policy of the government announced earlier, the Principal Secretary said Covid jabs to high risk groups in the 45+ age group are being administered since Monday. “We have to receive 78,000 more Covaxin doses from the Centre. At present, the State has 1,17,980 doses of vaccine, which is sufficient to administer the second dose to 90,000 people. The second dose will be administered from Wednesday,” Anil Kumar Singhal said. On Covishield vaccine stock, he said the State has 4,35,990 doses sent by the Centre.
The State has procured 12,74,290 doses of vaccine on its own. The same is being used to administer the first dose of vaccine to high risk groups. On ‘herbal medicine’ of B Anandaiah of Krishnapatnam, he said the Ayush Commissioner had observed the process and the samples were sent to labs in Hyderabad for analysis. At the same time, the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS) and Ayurvedic College in Tirupati have also collected the medicine samples to study its efficacy.
“Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has asked the Ayush Commissioner to find out if any people who got eye drops, have developed any adverse symptoms. The report is expected by Friday. Lab findings from Hyderabad will also be known by that day. Based on the findings of the CCRAS, the State government will take a decision on allowing the distribution of medicine,” he added.
