Bengal’s second Covid wave rides on election fever pitch – Times of India

KOLKATA: When the Bengal polls were announced on February 26, the number of active cases in Bengal was 3,343 with a significant decline — of 10 cases — compared with the previous day’s figures. On April 3, the active cases jumped to 8,844 — with a jump of 1,152 cases over April 2. The death toll also rose from 3 on February 26 to 5 on April 3. Hospital occupancy rate, which was 3.3% on February 26, now stands at 12.7%.
As Bengal’s poll fever gathers steam, so has the spate of infections. And health experts have pointed out that polls — which, in Bengal, always means large congregations — may be helping the second Covid wave.
Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, the two worst-hit districts as far as spread of infection was concerned in the first wave, look likely to bear the brunt of having the polls at the fag end of the eight-phase polls, fear experts. In fact, Kolkata and North 24 Parganas are leading from the front — with 3,195 and 1,776 active cases and a surge of 338 and 220 cases in the last 24 hours respectively.
Bengal polls are always preceded by huge gatherings at colourful and noisy campaigns, where Covid-19 protocols are difficult to maintain. TOI, which has been criss-crossing Bengal to cover the poll campaigns and polling processes, has seldom found either vote-seekers or voters wearing masks or maintaining a safe distance.
“Election campaigns are the mother of all congregations, where a huge number of people gather to listen to promises made from a podium,” says social scientist Pradip Chakraborty. “The larger the audience, the bigger the success. Thanks to electronic media, most political parties are now enclosing areas to show a high concentration of the audience, with the belief that this would influence the next congregation, or one phase influencing the other,” he added.
Raja Dhar, CMRI Hospital’s director of pulmonology, concurred. “It is impossible to expect those taking part in electioneering to follow safety measures,” he said, adding, “We are now approaching the final phases of electioneering, when things are going to reach fever pitch. Gatherings have been happening for the last two months, and the impact is there for all to see. We will see more of them and the numbers will climb even faster now. We are heading towards a gloomy situation.”
The numbers back up their fears. Bengal’s total Covid caseload was 5,74,716 on the day the polls were announced. In less than two months, on April 3, it rose to 5,91,658. There were just 216 new cases on February 26, shooting up to 1,736 on April 3.
The health and family welfare department has ramped up testing. On February 26, there were 20,084 daily tests conducted; on April 3, the number was increased to 26,114 from 105 laboratories. However, the total number of Covid beds has gone down — from 6,736 on February 26 to 5,604 now. Health department officials, however, have said that they are ready to increase the number of beds as and when required. The current bed availability is much higher than the requirement, said an official.