Experts say Covid advisory will help take preventive steps

SANKHA GHOSH, SNS,  SILIGURI,  22  APRIL 2023 : Health experts believe that the timing of the issuance of the Covid- 19 advisory by the state health and family welfare department will provide all a window to take preventive steps and take the precautionary dose of the Covid vaccine if the number of cases goes up.

Meanwhile, the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) on Wednesday sent 18 Covid samples to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics at Kalyani for genome sequencing to identify the strains.

On the other hand, a 65- year-old resident of Oodlabari in Jalpaiguri district was admitted to the high dependency unit of the medicine department of the NBMCH after she tested positive for Covid-19. Bengal health department issued a Covid-19 advisory on Tuesday, urging people to remain alert and mask up, and urging the elderly, children, pregnant women and those with comorbidities to stay away from people suffering from fever and cold/cough. It has also stressed on vaccination, especially the precaution dose, undergoing Covid tests for anyone suffering from sore throat/cold/cough, avoiding injudicious use of cough syrup/ antibiotics, avoiding crowd or mass gatherings as far as possible, encouraging children to develop the habit of washing hands frequently with soap or hand sanitiser.

"The Covid-19 advisory has been issued at an appropriate time. It will provide us a window to focus more on the precautionary steps, when the number of Chid cases has been low. It has been important to put on masks and wash hands as part of the Covid protocol," said the superintendent of the Jalpaiguri Government Medical College, Dr Kalyan Khan.

Dr Khan underscored the importance of Covid vaccination, Coed tests for persons with symptoms.

"Only 20-25 percent of t he population in both Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts have taken the third dose. I suggest people to immediately get get the shots to complete the vaccination. At the same time, people should also stay away from injudicious use of cough syrup or antibiotics and follow the advice of doctors," he said. Dr Khan said that people should use telemedicines to get easier access to government healthcare.

Public health specialists pointed out that most of the people had been reluctant to wear masks.

Head of the department of chest medicine at the NBMCII, Prof Indranath Ghosh, welcomed the initiative of the state government.

"The advisory was very important, but much depends on the people, how they adhere to the Covid- appropriate behaviour. They should focus on mask, distance and sanitiser, keep wearing masks, keep physical distance and maintain hand hygiene by using sanitiser or washing hands frequently to fight against Covid-19 and reduce the chances of infection," Prof Ghosh said. I lc advised people not to use antibiotics in an irrational manner.

Officer on special duty for public health in north Bengal Dr Susanta Kumar Roy has also advocated for the Covid appropriate behaviour like previous years.

The advisory reads, "The currently circulating strains of COVID-19 in the state are known to cause just mild symptoms. However, in a small proportion, the disease may aggravate to cause complications, especially in the very elderly, people with comorbidities (diseases of heart, kidney, liver, lungs or diabetes) and those with compromised immunity (cancer or IIIV patients or people on long course steroids or other immunosuppressive drugs)."

Some Covid-19 cases have been reported in Siliguri and Its adjacent areas in the last few days.

Sources said around five patients had been admitted in the NBMCII with Covid-19 this month.

Covid samples

Sources said that of the 18 samples, six had been examined at the viral research and diagnostic laboratory of NBMCH in April and two in March. The rest of the samples were examined in Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar, Alipurduar and North Dinajpur districts.