Seeking to know if the medicine kits given to COVID-19 positive persons in the State contained any steroids, Telangana High Court on Monday instructed the State government to file a detailed affidavit on how it was going to tackle Black Fungus.
Also known as Mucormycosis, the Black Fungus was reportedly spreading due to misuse of steroids and hence the State needs to be cautious if the medicine kit it was giving to COVID-19 patients contained any steroid drug, the HC said.
A Bench of Chief Justice Hima Kohli and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy, hearing a batch of PIL petitions on Coronavirus related matters, sought to know specifically from Advocate General B.S. Prasad if the kit had any steroids.
As the AG said he would require instructions from Public Health Director G. Srinivasa Rao (who was unable to attend the virtual hearing of the court proceedings) on the matter, the Bench told him that it wanted to know if the government was geared up to deal with Black Fungus in the light of reports that it was spreading among COVID-19 patients. The AG told the bench that Telangana government had designated the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) hospital at King Kothi hospital to treat Black Fungus infected persons.
The Bench directed the government to treat the 15 teachers, who contracted Coronavirus while attending duties for recently held different elections in the State and died, should be treated as ‘Covid Warriors’. All benefits given to Covid warriors should be extended to these teachers as well. The direction was given after a lawyer Poojitha informed the bench that 15 out of the 500 teachers assigned election duties died of Coronavirus.
Responding to another submission of the lawyer, the bench said the government needs to address on priority base the issue of children being orphaned with their parents succumbing to COVID-19. It directed the Women and Child welfare department to file an affidavit on such instances and how it was going to rehabilitate them.
The lawyer said some persons were resorting to illegal online adoption of such children. The bench said this could also lead to child trafficking as well and the authorities need to take measures urgently to check the problem.
