Karnataka reported 1,784 black fungus cases, 62 recovered: State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar
Bengaluru, June 5: Karnataka has reported 1,784 cases of mucormycosis or black fungus while 62 have recovered and 111 have died, said State Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar on Saturday.
The State government is mulling including black fungus treatment under Ayushman Bharat Arogya Karnataka scheme for the people falling under the low income and lower middle- class group, he said.
Black fungus broke out in the State as a post-COVID complication during the second wave.
"A total of 1,784 cases of black fungus have been reported in the State and 62 have recovered. Sufficient medicine has been allocated to the State," Sudhakar said in a statement.
According to him, 1,564 people in the State are being treated for black fungus.
"While 62 people have recovered, unfortunately 111 people have lost their lives to the black fungus," the Minister said.
He said 9,750 vials of Amphotericin B drug used for treatment of black fungus has been allocated by the Centre, of which 8,860 vials were received on Friday.
"So far, we have received 18,650 vials. 8,860 vials have been used by government hospitals and 9,740 vials provided to private hospitals," the Minister said.
Speaking about the vaccination drive, he said about 70-75 lakh people would be provided vaccines in June.
"About 1.5 crore doses have been administered in the State so far. By the end of June, about 2.25 crore people will receive at least one dose of vaccine in our State. Everyone will be vaccinated soon," Sudhakar said.
According to him, the second wave may subside in the State by June-end but insisted upon the people to follow COVID guidlines.
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Rupee strengthens past 90/USD level in early trade
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee appreciated 24 paise to 89.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Friday, supported by corporate dollar inflows and easing crude oil prices.
Forex traders said the gain in the USD/INR pair follows the rupee’s string of record lows in recent weeks on likely intervention from the Reserve Bank of India.
Moreover, crude oil prices hovering around USD 59 per barrel level supported market sentiment.
ALSO READ:Rupee trades in narrow range against US dollar in early trade
At the interbank foreign exchange market, the rupee opened at 90.19 against the US dollar, then gained some ground and touched 89.96 against the US dollar, registering a gain of 24 paise over its previous close.
In initial trade it also touched 90.22 against the American currency. On Thursday, the rupee appreciated 18 paise against the US dollar to close at 90.20 against the greenback.
The rupee sank to a fresh record low, breaching the 91-a-dollar mark for the first time on Tuesday.
"Since the speculators are out of the market the buying of US dollar syndrome has come down a bit though intra-day we could see spikes," said Anil Kumar Bhansali Head of Treasury and Executive Director Finrex Treasury Advisors LLP.
The US CPI came lower than expected but was also due to non-collection of sufficient data and therefore, the next month’s CPI becomes more important, Bhansali said, adding that "Rupee remains in a range of 90-90.50".
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.04 per cent higher at 98.46.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading lower by 0.27 per cent at USD 59.66 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, the 30-share benchmark index Sensex climbed 375.98 points to 84,857.79, while the Nifty was up 110.60 points to 25,934.15.
Foreign Institutional Investors purchased equities worth Rs 595.78 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) member Sanjeev Sanyal on Thursday said he is not concerned about the rupee at all, arguing that even China and Japan witnessed exchange rate weaknesses during their high growth phases.
Speaking at 'Times Network's India Economic Conclave 2025', Sanyal said since the 90s, the rupee has mostly been allowed to find its own level, but the RBI uses its reserves to intervene in either direction to stop excessive volatility.
"I am not concerned about the rupee at all... Let me say that the rupee and its current weakness should not be necessarily conflated with some economic worry, because historically, if you go over time, you will see that economies that are in their high growth phase very often go through a phase of exchange rate weakness," he said.
