Mamata asks health officials to form panel, keep tab on Covid situation

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday expressed concern over the surge in COVID-19 cases in China and advised health officials to form a committee of experts to keep an eye on the emerging situation.

Banerjee, during a meeting at the state secretariat, enquired why one of the reporters was wearing masks, which has become a rarity in Bengal, and cabinet minister Arup Biswas subsequently informed her that cases were on the rise in China.

"Is there a new variant of coronavirus in China? But they (Chinese) have not imposed anything (restriction). I will ask the health department to keep a tab on the situation," the CM said.

Turning to Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi, she said, "Set up a team of experts to monitor the situation. The health secretary will be leading the team. Genome sequencing should continue."

Earlier in the day, state health officials said that Bengal is ready to tackle fresh spurt in COVID-19 infections.

Sample examination is being done regularly in the state to keep a tab on the evolving situation, said Dr Siddhartha Niyogi, the director of state's health services.

"Things are under control here but we will exercise caution," the senior official told PTI.

The Union health ministry had on Tuesday sent a missive to state governments asking them to gear up for any possible future surge and to send for genome sequencing all positive case samples for tracking the variants.

Since the outbreak of the disease in 2020, Bengal reported 21,532 deaths. According to state health department statistics, 20,96,981 people have recovered from the infection till December 20 this year.

The current COVID-19 positivity rate in Bengal stands at 0.16 per cent with only 43 active cases.

On Tuesday, the state reported seven new cases.

"We have been conducting COVID-19 tests regularly. The state has adequate number of doctors and para-medics, sufficient masks, oxygen cylinders and ample number of beds in different hospitals and medical colleges to handle the surge, if any," the official said.

Bengal, he said, is testing 4,000 samples every day on an average and the recovery rate is 98.98 per cent.

"We have combated three COVID-19 waves successfully and are confident of doing the same again, if necessary, Niyogi added.