Kolkata: From 1% on June 6, Covid positivity inches closer to 10%; hospital admission still low

KOLKATA: The fresh Covid-19 cases on Tuesday surged sharply with Bengal logging 954 cases in the past 24 hours. The state recorded 551 cases on Monday. The positivity, too, rose further to 9.9%. Health officials admitted community transmission of the virus again but said there was nothing much to worry as only a handful of patients are requiring hospital admission.
Bengal reported only 39 cases on June 1, it has jumped by 25 times in just about three weeks.The positivity rate which had remained below 1% even till June 5 has shot up alarmingly inching close to 10%. This rate reached the 1%-mark on June 6 for the first time in about four months.
"There is a significant rise in positive cases and the high positivity rate also is indicative of the community transmission. However, we need not press the panic button as there is no substantial rise in hospital admission rate. We are alert and all measures are being taken, including for those who would require hospital care, as we expect further escalation in numbers," said a senior health department official.
Senior physician Sukumar Mukherjee said due to the current infectivity rate, number of fresh cases will rise as testing escalates. He advocated for raising the test number in order to detect optimum number of cases that will allow better preparedness. "While the active cases are on the surge, fatality still remains low. Look at crowded public places and public transport where no one is bothered about wearing masks. This irresponsible behaviour is also responsible for the current surge," said Mukherjee, a member of Bengal's Global Advisory Board on Covid-19.
Sources in health department said nearly 50% of all cases reported on Tuesday from Kolkata. The number of patients under hospital care also climbed to 194 on Tuesday. There were only 29 patients requiring hospital treatment on June 1.
"Going by the current transmission rate, the number of positive cases that we are seeing could only be the tip of the ice berg because of low testing. But the fact that majority of the infection is not severe is a comforting factor. People should immediately resort to all Covid appropriate behaviour as a section, especially those with comorbidity, stands the risk of severe infection," said associate professor of paediatrics at Institute of Child Health, Prabhas Prasun Giri.
Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General Hospital presently has 24 patients. Most private hospitals in the city are also seeing a gradual rise in Covid-19 patient count. Due to the higher patient load, the death count that had gone down as low as three in entire May has escalated to 12 in June.