Kolkata: In the last 8 days, more than one third of the active Covid cases in West Bengal have been reported from two districts of the state — Kolkata and North 24 Parganas — making them the most affected districts in the state.
The data released by the state health department shows that of the total 1,33,846 cases reported between May 4 to May 11, the cumulative cases of these two districts are 55,337 which is nearly 41.3 per cent of the total caseloads.
The data released by the department on May 11 shows that of the total 20,136 cases these two districts cumulatively contributed 7,971 cases which is 39.5 per cent of the total cases.
Interestingly, enough a week before on May 4, these two districts contributed 7,868 of the total 17,639 cases which was 44.6 per cent of the total cases. The data itself shows that there is a slight downward curve so far as active cases in these two districts are concerned.
More details will help in proving the point. On May 5, the contribution of Kolkata and North 24 Parganas had been 7,955 of the total 18,102 cases which was 43.9 per cent of the total cases. Similarly on May 6 it was 7,809 of the total 18,431 cases which was 42.3 per cent of the total cases.
Significantly, on May 7 onwards for the next three days the percentage of cases hovered around 40 per cent but on May 10 and May 11 the caseloads came down below 40 per cent recording 39.7 per cent and 39.5 per cent, respectively.
According to senior health department officials Kolkata and North 24 Parganas have always been exposed to the disease because of its cosmopolitan nature but after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee came to power there are several steps taken which will help in controlling the spread of the disease.
The state government had ordered the shutting down of malls, cinemas, restaurants and bars, gyms and parlours since May 1. The market timings have also been restricted and travel to the state required a RT-PCR report.
Though the restriction imposed by the government has put leash on the unchecked spread of the disease but the latest bulletin released by the government shows that the number of fresh cases has crossed the 20,000-mark recorded taking the tally of fresh Covid cases in the state to 1,27,673.
Though the percentage of positive cases in respect to the samples tested is 9.3 per cent but the daily positivity rate in West Bengal stands at nearly 30 per cent which according to experts is a real cause to worry.
“During the first wave even Kolkata and North 24 Parganas have been most vulnerable. We have taken several steps to control the spread of the disease and it is yielding results. We hope to bring it around 20 per cent in the next 15 days,” a senior health department official said.
IANS