West Bengal: Slight dip in fresh Covid cases, positivity at 17% – Times of India

KOLKATA: The state reported a dip in fresh Covid-19 cases on Sunday. Even as the downslide was by a narrow margin – only six cases – this was the first time the Covid graph saw a drop in a week. The overall positivity rate for the state, however, went up again to 17% from the previous day’s 15.7%. But, many labs across Kolkata are seeing either a stable graph or a downswing as far as positivity is concerned. Bengal, however, logged four deaths during the past 24 hours, the highest during the present spike.
Sources in the health department said Kolkata was reporting the highest number of cases even a few days ago. Now the neighbouring North 24 Parganas has replaced Kolkata as far as highest number of cases is concerned. On Sunday, North 24 Parganas reported 700-plus fresh cases against over 600 cases in Kolkata in the past 24 hours.
“The surge began from the city. Since the Covid count in Kolkata has already started receding, districts, including North 24 Parganas, may see a similar trend in about a week,” said a senior health department official.
Labs attached with hospitals across the city that had logged positivity rate between 30% and 40% a week ago is now witnessing a significantly lower rate.
“Positivity rate in the past few days has come down significantly. Hopefully, we should see the downswing from now on,” said Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri, microbiologist attached with Peerless Hospital.
The highest overall positivity for the state during this surge so far was 18.7% on July 7. During the third wave, this rate had surged as high as 37% on January 10.
“We are testing 40-45 samples per day on an average. Over the last two days, the positivity rate was 15% to 22%. This was slightly higher before that – around 25%-30%,” said R Venkatesh, regional director (east) Narayana Health.
MD and CEO, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospita, Rupali Basu said the positivity rate has remained steady at around 32% in the past few days.
“We must be somewhere near the peak. The Covid graph should decline now,” said surgery professor Diptendra Sarkar, a member of IPGMER’s Covid task force.