Covid cases rise, death count low in Kolkata – Times of India

Kolkata: A sudden spurt in the number of fresh Covid cases in Kolkata since Thursday — when the city recorded 118 new infections, crossing the three-figure mark for the first time since July 4’s 111 — has led to concern among medics and experts. Some predicted a slow and steady rise in fresh cases, which, they believe, may reach a peak by early-October, ushering in the third wave, most felt they could be mild infections and that fatalities were likely to be far lower than the first two waves. Others, however, felt it was too early to be complacent.
While Kolkata recorded 112 fresh cases on Friday, the number has spiralled slowly from 60 to 89 between August 1 and 25. Daily deaths, however, have been hovering between zero and 4 in Kolkata during the period.
“Since more than 40% of the city population has been vaccinated, there is now a strong immune wall to fight Covid. Infections will not only be mild, they will spread far slower, unlike the second wave that saw a very quick transmission and more virulent attacks since few had got the vaccine and hence had poor resistance,” said Institute of Post-Graduate Medical Education & Research (IPGMER) professor Diptendra Sarkar.
Others, like Apollo Gleneagles Hospital oncologist Subir Ganguly, however, said that many, including doctors, have been severely infected despite being double-vaccinated. “I would expect fresh cases to rise slowly now and explode during the pujas when a lot of crowding is likely to happen. The sudden spurt in Kolkata cases is directly linked to the Puja-shopping crowd that has swelled over the last few weeks. Most are flouting Covid protocol. Most importantly, people are venturing into crowds, which is responsible for transmission. We have let our guard down and I am not ruling out a severe wave yet,” said Ganguly.
But Sarkar said since around 65% of Kolkata’s population has developed sero-positivity, casualties will be low despite high numbers. “We must look at casualties now rather than the number of infected. Deaths will be far fewer than the second wave. But we must stick to safety norms. A vast majority of our population has got one vaccine which doesn’t provide enough protection against the Delta variant,” he said.
This month, the number of active cases in Kolkata, too, has spiralled steadily from 734 on August 1 to 919 on August 20. It rose to 973 on August 25, crossing the thousand-mark on Thursday when the city had 1,013 active cases. On Friday, it was 1,035.
“We need not worry about the rising cases now, but must ensure that we vaccinate as fast as possible so that almost the entire population receives at least one shot,” said Sarkar. He added that even double vaccination may not be effective against all strains. “But it’s certainly better than a single shot so we need to step up the vaccination pace,” he said.
Even if a substantial part of the Kolkata population is now vaccinated, a large enough section remained vulnerable, said cardiac surgeon and senior vice-president of Medica Superspecialty Hospital Kunal Sarkar. “Due to our large population base, there is still a big enough section which could be affected. Numbers will rise, but since we have a high enough sero-positive population now, infections should be mild. We need to identify the pockets and areas where transmission is happening and take steps,” he said.