COVID restrictions to continue till June 10 in Punjab; CM orders ramping up of drugs to treat mucormycosis

The COVID restrictions will continue till June 10 in Punjab even as the state saw a decline in the count of positive and active cases for the past couple of days.

The limit on the number of passengers in personal vehicles has been removed but there is no relaxation in the case of commercial passenger vehicles and taxis.

These decisions were taken by Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh while chairing the COVID-19 review meeting in Chandigarh today.

The CM also directed the resumption of elective surgeries (subject to conditions) in both government and private hospitals, as well restoration of OPD operations at all GMCHs in the state in view of the improvement in the overall COVID situation.

The elective surgeries were stopped from April 12 to ensure adequate availability of beds and oxygen for serious COVID patients.

An official spokesperson of the government said that the Deputy Commissioners will continue to be empowered to make any adjustments in opening of non-essential shops as per by local conditions.

Asserting that the state could not afford to be lax despite some easing of the situation, the Chief Minister directed the Health and Medical Education departments to continue strengthening the COVID care infrastructure and facilities to deal with a possible third wave of the pandemic.

He also asked them to invest in augmenting paediatric care and to seek 500 paediatric ventilators from the Government of India.

The meeting was informed that all the 809 ventilators received earlier under the PM-CARES Fund had been distributed and 136 of them were not working.

Given the comfortable oxygen situation in the state currently, the Chief Minister also directed that oxygen may now be allowed to be used for essential non-medical purposes, but a 3-day buffer stock of medical oxygen must be maintained at all times.

Capt. Amarinder Singh also ordered a ramp-up of stocks of alternate drugs to treat mucormycosis (black fungus) patients. 188 confirmed mucormycosis cases and 23 deaths have been reported so far in Punjab.

In view of the shortage of Amphotericin B injections used to treat the condition, Punjab is the first state in the country to make effective use of alternative medicines to treat the disease. With only Liposomal Amphotericin B injections in stock, and just 880 more Liposomal

expected to be received today, the CM stressed on the need to augment stocks of alternate drugs as recommended by the Expert Group constituted by the Punjab government to deal with the crisis.

Emphasizing on the need to ensure that every patient must have a chance to recover from black fungus, the CM said that along with efforts being made to get more Amphotericin B injections, the state government has already made available two alternate drugs - Itraconazole (4000 tablets) and Posaconazole (500 tablets), as suggested by the Expert Group.

He also noted with satisfaction that the six-member Expert Group constituted to deal with the crisis has begun its task of advising hospitals on the treatment protocols and the use of various drugs being supplied to them.

According to state Health Secretary Hussan Lal, of the 188 cases of mucormycosis, 40 were not related to COVID, while 148 were of COVID infected persons, with 133 having been on steroid therapy and 122 on oxygen support prior to the onset of mucormycosis.

As many as 154 patients had diabetes, 56 were immune-compromised, and 47 had co-morbidities. A total of 156 patients are currently under treatment, nine have been cured while 23 have died, he said, adding that a maximum of 16 cases had come to light at GMC, Patiala, followed by GMC Amritsar (10), GMC Faridkot (8) and GMC Mohali (2).