Mumbai, May 10: Patients of Mucormycosis, a serious but rare fungal infection now affecting those suffering from coronavirus, will be treated for free under the Maharashtra governments flagship medical insurance scheme, Health Minister Rajesh Tope said on Monday.

Mucormycosis patients will be covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana since the medicines required to combat the fungal infection are expensive, an official statement quoted Tope as saying. According to the statement, he said patients will be treated free of cost at 1,000 hospitals covered under the health scheme. Mucormycosis: Fungal Infection Cases Rising in 2nd Phase of COVID-19 Pandemic, Warn Doctors in Maharashtra & Gujarat.

The minister said symptoms of the disease are being seen in those COVID-19 patients who are diabetic and whose diabetes is not under control. The statement said Tope made the comments while interacting with media persons in Jalna in central Maharashtra.

The medicines of the disease are expensive. Hence, patients hit by the disease will be treated for free at 1,000 hospitals covered under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana, Tope said.

The minister said there are complaints about the injections used for treating Mucormycosis patients being sold at higher than actual price and added their rates will be capped. Tope said COVID-19 patients should not panic after contracting Mucormycosis and focus on controlling diabetes.

Symptoms of Mucormycosis include headache, fever, pain under the eyes, nasal or sinus congestion and partial loss of vision. The minister said the government will undertake a campaign to spread awareness among people about the fungal infection.

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