Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, on Tuesday, expressed concerns over rising coronavirus cases and deaths registered in the state over the last 30 days to his West Bengal counterpart Narayan Swaroop Nigam. Bhushan flagged Kolkata as one of the primary districts of concern, where the daily average caseload and weekly positivity rate has been increasing in the last few weeks.
This comes a day after Nigam told News18 that there is indeed an increase and all necessary steps are being taken to keep the virus from spreading further. “We have set up various safe homes and announced containment zones at various places where we have noticed that the cases are on a higher side,” he said.
Bhushan, in his letter, cautioned, “if left unchecked, it may lead to situation where there is a severe strain on the health infrastructure and health workforce.” On Monday, the state reported 805 new infections, which was, however, 184 less than the virus count registered on the previous day.
The union health secretary noted that there was a 25 percent increase in daily average cases – from 217 cases in the week ending October 14 to 272 infections the next week. The test positivity rate increased by 5.6 percent the week ending October 14 to 7.1 per cent a week later.
Bhushan emphasized the need for safe festivities in order to maintain the gains made in the pandemic so far. “The state must ensure strict adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour and focus on the 2nd dose coverage of all eligible beneficiaries.”
He said regular review of Covid-19 cases and deaths must also be undertaken, and necessary corrective measures should be promptly communicated to field teams. “Lastly, it should also be ensured that the district maintains consistency in data up-dation in the Covid-19 portal,” Bhushan added.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday claimed that the new cases of coronavirus infection in the state are from mostly among those who have been fully vaccinated but their immunity after being administered both doses is not exceeding six months. She directed the state health secretary to take up the matter with the Centre and seek to know the reasons behind it.
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