Another mucormycosis death, reported in Giridih, took the black fungus toll in Jharkhand to 30 on Wednesday, while two more suspected mucormycosis patients got hospitalised for further diagnosis, figures compiled by the health department highlighted.

The casualty reported on Wednesday was the first death caused by the fungal infection in Giridih, a district which has reported five confirmed and two suspected cases of Covid-induced mucormycosis so far.

As per data compiled by the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Jharkhand has so far reported 98 confirmed and 60 suspected cases of mucormycosis. At least 81 patients have recovered from black fungus in the state so far.

Mucormycosis, a rare but potentially lethal disease caused by exposure to mucor mould found in soil, plants, manure and decaying fruits and vegetables, has an average fatality rate of 50 per cent. Covid patients who were administered high dosage of steroids, especially those suffering from diabetes, are more prone to this fungal infection, say doctors.

Covid cases continued to drop in the state. At least 68 people were found infected by the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Jharkhand, while 71 Covid patients recovered from the viral infection on Wednesday, bringing the active caseload in the state down to 344, a bulletin released by the National Health Mission (NHM) highlighted.

Jharkhand on Wednesday tested swab samples of 49,245 residents and 0.13 per cent of them were found infected by coronavirus. As per government data, over 3.46 lakh people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the state so far and 98.42 per cent of them have recovered, while 1.47 per cent of patients could not survive.

As per NHM data, at least nine districts – West Singhbhum, Simdega, Saraikela, Palamu, Pakur, Khunti, Giridih, Garhwa and Dumka – did not report fresh Covid cases on Wednesday. At least 14 Covid recoveries against 11 cases brought the active caseload down to 47 in Ranchi, while the active caseload in East Singhbhum dropped to 50 as the district reported eight recoveries against four fresh cases of infection.

No fresh Covid casualties were reported in Jharkhand on Wednesday and the Covid toll remained 5,120. The growth rate of Covid-19 was 0.01 per cent against the national average of 0.09 per cent, while the doubling rate in the state was 5403.12 days against the national doubling rate of 737.01 days.

The state on Wednesday vaccinated over 90,000 residents against Covid-19. As per provisional data released by NHM, the first dose of vaccine was administered to 56,166 residents, while 34,655 residents received their second jab.