October sees Covid climb in Bengal

 The state saw a dip in the recovery rate  for the first time in months on Wednesday

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT   |   Calcutta   |   08.10.20  :  Bengal on Wednesday logged 3,455 new Covid-19 cases till 9am — the highest spike yet in the 24-hour period — and 58 deaths, as well as 3,024 recoveries.

In all, Bengal has gone past 2.8 lakh cases, which include over 2.46 lakh recoveries and 5,376 deaths.

In the first week of October, the state saw a rise of 23,455 new Covid-19 cases, compared to 20,968 recoveries. There have been 418 deaths in the week. Of the 58 deaths reported on Wednesday, 18 were from Calcutta and 12 from North 24-Parganas. The two districts have contributed over 56 per cent of all Covid-19 deaths since the first was recorded in Bengal on March 23.

Amid a continued surge in active cases, which stands at 28,361 on Wednesday, Bengal saw a dip in the recovery rate  for the first time in months, to 87.97 on Wednesday from 87.98 the day before. However, it is still ahead of the national rate of 85.05 per cent.

A minister said: “We are tightening our vigil for better management of the pandemic, by way of handling serious and critical patients more efficiently, besides keeping regular tabs on the vulnerable sections.” 

“There could well be a surge after Puja. We certainly cannot afford a spike before that,” the minister added. 

“The co-morbidity surveys and putting together that database is a crucial step in the right direction. Besides, as the chief minister instructed yesterday (Tuesday), tracking infected persons with higher viral load is a smart decision,” he added.

The state reported 42,651 tests on Wednesday, taking the total past 35 lakh.

“We began testing in early February. Seven months later, a month ago, we were at 22 lakh tests. Today, we are past 35.23 lakh tests. We have been covering a lakh tests almost every two days, for a long time now,” said the minister. Bengal is now at 39,146 tests per million people. A month ago, the state was at 24,455.

The positive confirmation rate is 7.96 per cent now, which is better than 8.35 per cent, within the span of a month.

Of the total deaths, 4,565 (84.9 per cent) were reported as co-morbid by the state government. Bengal’s overall mortality rate stayed at 1.91, while the national rate is 1.54 per cent. “Substantially lowering the mortality rate is one target we have not been able to achieve in a couple of months,” admitted the minister.

The state reported 37.61 per cent occupancy of 12,715 Covid-19 beds in 92 hospitals and over 3.03 lakh telemedicine consultations.