Agartala/Guwahati,  After Assam, a 68-year-old woman has been admitted to a private hospital in Agartala on Friday with mucormycosis infection, commonly known as ‘black fungus.

Tripura Education and Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath, who is also the spokesperson for the state government, told the media on Friday night that the woman is now under treatment as per the standard protocols of the government.

He refused to give further details of the patient.

Nath said the state government is following the advice of the Union Health Ministry, which on Thursday urged all the states and Union Territories to declare black fungus as an epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897.

Mucormycosis is a rare fungal infection which is being detected quite frequently in Covid patients across the country in the past few weeks.

With an active Covid caseload of 6,473 as on Friday night, Tripura has so far reported 44,369 positive cases, while 454 people have succumbed to the virus so far.

The northeast region recorded its first death due to black fungus when a 27-year-old man died at a private hospital in Guwahati on Wednesday after recovering from Covid-19.

The man was a diabetic and had tested positive for Covid-19 on May 6 after which he was admitted to a Covid care centre in Nagaon district.

The patient tested negative for the virus in a Rapid Antigen Test on May 12 and was discharged from the centre.

He was later admitted to a private hospital in Guwahati on May 16 in a critical condition after he developed decreased vision in both eyes and other post-Covid complications.

Assam's Health and Family Welfare Department on Friday issued a standard operating procedure (SOP) to contain the possible spread of black fungus.

"In order to screen, diagnose and manage cases of mucormycosis (black fungus) in Covid patients, the SOP is notified with immediate effect," the Assam government order said.

The SOP contains details about symptoms and management of Covid patients with mucormycosis infection, besides outlining the treatment protocols.