Puducherry, May 21: Puducherry Lt Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Friday said 20 people including a couple of government staff were affected by Mucormycorsis or black fungus in the union territory and were receiving treatment.

The territorial administration would soon issue a notification to declare black fungus a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897, she told reporters here after receiving 50 oxygen concentrators from World Health Organisation at Raj Nivas here.

All hospitals should inform the health department as soon as they received patients with symptoms of the black fungus. She said black fungus was spreading fast in Puducherry and those suffering the ailment should not take medicines on their own but approach hospitals for treatment. Mucormycosis in India: List of States With Number of Black Fungus Cases and Deaths.

Condoling the death of a reporter, the Lt Governor said she had consulted Chief Minister N Rangasamy on the need to provide relief to the families of journalists who succumb to Covid-19. Tamilisai Soundararajan said those in the age group of 18 to 44 were coming forward enthusiastically for vaccination against Covid.