The Maharashtra government on Tuesday banned home isolation for coronavirus patients in districts with high positivity rates, ANI reported.

The districts where patients will now have to move to quarantine centres include Pune, Thane, Amravati, Nagpur, Satara, Solapur, Sindhudurg, Raigad, Beed, Osmanabad, Latur, Hingoli, Nanded, Akola, Dhule and Nagpur, according to News18.

Initially, Mumbai was also part of the list. However, shortly after the announcement, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal told the news channel that home isolation for patients in Mumbai will continue.

Overall, Maharashtra has been registering a decline in coronavirus infections. On Monday, it recorded 22,122 new cases and 361 deaths. The state’s total count of cases rose to 56,02,019, while the toll reached 89,212.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that officials in the districts with high positivity rates were asked to increase bed capacity and concentrate on testing, according to News18. “The focus should be on high-risk contacts of positive patients,” he added.

Tope said that the decision to end home isolation in these districts was made to help patients receive better care and contain the spread of the infection.

The state government will use 25% of the funding of the 15th finance commission to set up Covid care centres and isolation facilities in rural areas, Tope added, according to PTI.

Tope said that Accredited Social Health Activists or ASHA workers will be engaged to encourage people in rural areas to get tested for Covid-19 and also sensitise them about vaccination. ASHA workers will also be trained to operate rapid antigen and self-testing kits.

India on Tuesday reported 1,96,427 new coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 2,69,48,874 since the pandemic first broke out in January 2020. This is the first time since April 15 that the single-day rise in cases fell below 2 lakh. The toll rose by 3,511 to 3,07,231.

State classifies black fungus as a notified disease

Maharashtra also classified mucormycosis or black fungus as a notified disease on Tuesday, ANI reported. The state has reported 2,245 cases of the infection so far.

Black fungus is caused by a fungus named mucor, which is found on wet surfaces. The symptoms of the infection include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion, and partial loss of vision, among others. One of the potential causes of the fungal infection is reportedly the use of steroids for Covid-19 treatment, which increases blood sugar levels.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said the infection will be treated at government hospitals for free under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana.

Tope added that the state will receive 60,000 vials of Amphotericin-B, the drug used for the treatment of mucormycosis, from June 1 through a global tender, PTI reported. “It will be an additional supply apart from the current allocation of the medicine by the Centre,” Tope added. A patient needs six vials of the drug each day.

More information on mucormycosis black fungus is available on the CDC website.