India has not published national data on mucormycosis but has said there is no major outbreak. Media reports have pointed to cases in Maharashtra and its capital Mumbai, and Gujarat.
Aparna Mukherjee, a scientist at ICMR, said: “It's not something to panic about, but you have to be aware of when to seek consultation.”
But it is a complication that India's overwhelmed hospitals, desperately short of beds as well as the oxygen needed for severely ill Covid-19 patients, could do without.
Arunaloke Chakrabarti, head of the Center of Advanced Research in Medical Mycology in the Indian city of Chandigarh and an adviser to GAFFI, said that even before Covid-19, mucormycosis was more common in India than in most countries, “partly because of the millions who have diabetes”.