Covid: Bengal health department asks hospitals to prepare for surge in cases

The number of people undergoing tests has dropped significantly over the past few months

The rise in the number of daily cases since the beginning of March prompted the health department to ask doctors of government hospitals during a webinar on Sunday to send anyone with Covid symptoms for a test.: File picture

Subhajoy Roy   |   TT |   Calcutta   |   23.03.21:  The state health department has asked doctors to send people with symptoms of Covid-19 for tests and asked hospitals to stock up personal protective equipment (PPE) and take other measures to stay prepared for a renewed surge in cases.

The number of people undergoing Covid tests has dropped significantly over the past few months. The number of daily new cases, too, had been steadily going down till a few weeks ago.

The rise in the number of daily cases since the beginning of March prompted the health department to ask doctors of government hospitals during a webinar on Sunday to send anyone with Covid symptoms for a test.

On Monday, the department wrote to government medical colleges asking them to check whether all ventilators and other tools required for treatment of Covid patients, such as the MGPS system, were functional.

The MGPS system is a network of pipelines that carries high-flow oxygen to the wards.

Officials of the hospitals have also been asked to adequately stock PPE.

Calcutta and the rest of Bengal have been witnessing a rise in the number of new cases for the past few weeks. A bulletin published by the health department on Monday said Bengal reported  368 new cases in the previous 24 hours, 128 of them in Calcutta.

On February 28, Bengal had reported 198 new cases, 62 of them in Calcutta. A month back on February 20, the state had reported 182 new cases, 61 of them in Calcutta.

Health department officials said that though the rise in numbers in Bengal was not alarming, there was a need to stay prepared for a surge.

An official said hospitals now had more Covid patients than in February.

“We were told to send all people with symptoms of Covid for tests so that they can be isolated if they are positive,” said a doctor who attended Sunday’s webinar.

An official said some doctors were advising patients with Covid symptoms not to undergo tests but stay at home if complications did not arise. The risk in such advice is that people would mingle with others in the family and neighbours once the fever subsides.

A positive test result will make a psychological impact and force the person to stay isolated for a certain period, minimising chances of spread of the virus.

Also, if someone tests positive, the health department and the local civic body will then be able to trace their close contacts and get them tested if they show symptoms. This way the spread of the virus can be checked.