Dip in new Covid cases with drop in number of tests in West Bengal – Times of India

Kolkata News

KOLKATA: The Covid spike remained lower than the record spikes on January 9 but still had 21,098 new cases in Bengal and 6,565 in Kolkata.
The positivity rate also showed a slight decline but remained at 33.3% with 65,210 tests state-wide, with rapid antigen tests contributing around 47% of the total number. Covid fatalities stood at 19 in Bengal, including six in Kolkata, on Tuesday.
“The fall in the number of fresh cases is because there has been fewer tests. The fresh cases are likely to go down further as number of test is expected to dip again after the revised ICMR testing guideline. Therefore, the absolute number does not make much of a sense for now. The infection is also spreading fast in other districts,” said a senior health official.
The Covid case spike was the sharpest on Sunday with Bengal recording 24,287 cases and Kolkata 8,712 cases. On that day, 71,664 samples were tested. On Monday, when there were 51,675 tests, Bengal reported 19,286 and Kolkata reported 5,556 daily cases. Experts didn’t read much into the daily case slide due to the reduced testing numbers. The positivity rate on Monday remained high at 37.3%.
“The case load is fluctuating, depending on the number and type of test. Therefore, this number does not matter much. What matters is the alarmingly high positivity rate,” said surgery professor at IPGMER Diptendra Sarkar.
Experts, however, pointed out that Kolkata cases seem to be more or less stabilising. We need to observe this declining trend for a few more days, they said.
Neighbouring North 24 Parganas recorded 4,000-plus cases on Tuesday. Other districts like Howrah, Hooghly and South 24 Parganas are also reporting cases in four digits despite comparatively low tests there.

Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/dip-in-new-cases-with-drop-in-number-of-tests/articleshow/88842908.cms