COVID: Black fungus adds to India’s woes, 4,194 deaths reported

States ordered emergency measures to counter a surge in the rare infection among coronavirus patients.

India’s coronavirus outbreak has stabilised in parts of the country, a government official said, but deaths rose by 4,194 on Saturday and infections were spreading in rural areas. A new infection, called black fungus, is also complicating matters further. Earlier this month, India reported more than 400,000 new daily infections but the numbers have gradually eased. On Saturday, government data showed 257,299 new cases. Active cases in the Maharashtra and Karnataka states and the coastal state of Kerala had fallen in the last two weeks, health ministry official Lav Agarwal told reporters on Saturday.