KOLKATA: With the influx of migrant labourers into Bengal over the past fortnight, Kolkata’s share in Bengal’s Covid-19 count has dropped substantially. Even though the city still tops the chart with more than 600 cases in the current week, its contribution to the overall state numbers is down to 24% this week from 39% recorded between May 4 and May 10, as per government data updated till Saturday morning.
Between May 4 and 10, Kolkata had accounted for 289 of the 741 cases recorded in Bengal, and the state capital, along with three other districts — Howrah, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore — contributed nearly 78% of the total cases. The arrival of migrant labourers from other states in mid-May led to a shift in the balance. In the seven days between May 30 and June 5, the total number of cases in Bengal shot up by 2,490, and, while Kolkata’s contribution more than doubled to 616, it’s share of cases fell by 15% to 24.7%. The cumulative share of the four mentioned districts fell to 55.4%, a dip of 22.4%.
Most experts attribute the surge in Covid cases in rural areas to the return of the migrants. “The movement of the migratory labourers started from the beginning of May and resulted in a spread of the disease in about a fortnight. A surge in the rural areas was imminent in mid-May and that is what has happened,” said virologist Amitava Nandy.
Malda recorded its first Covid case on April 27 and till May 7, the district’s count was only 3. At present, Malda has 192 Covid patients — all migrants back from other states. North Dinajpur kept its slate clean till May 8. On May 9, three migrant returnees tested positive and the number rose to 202 by June 5. Cooch Behar witnessed a sudden spike after May 28 and now has over 139 cases. Murshidabad, too, has crossed the 100-mark. Darjeeling and Alipurduar, both green zones till last week, had 77 and 12 positives respectively till Friday.
The first train carrying migrants reached Bengal on May 5 and since then there have been 150 trains that have brought migrants labourers back home. At present there are 1, 39,624 migratory labourers in 11,504 quarantine centres of the state while another 55,871 workers have been released.
“With the arrival of migrants, there has been a shift of the disease from the urban to the rural areas and the gap will now widen. It could have been restricted with better monitoring and surveillance,” virologist Amitava Nandy said.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) consultant Arindam Biswas pointed out that an increase in the number of tests, too, has contributed to a rise in the share of districts. “Over the last one month, more testing labs have come up in the districts and more Covid positives are being identified outside Kolkata,” said Biswas.
Between May 4 and 10, Kolkata had accounted for 289 of the 741 cases recorded in Bengal, and the state capital, along with three other districts — Howrah, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore — contributed nearly 78% of the total cases. The arrival of migrant labourers from other states in mid-May led to a shift in the balance. In the seven days between May 30 and June 5, the total number of cases in Bengal shot up by 2,490, and, while Kolkata’s contribution more than doubled to 616, it’s share of cases fell by 15% to 24.7%. The cumulative share of the four mentioned districts fell to 55.4%, a dip of 22.4%.
Most experts attribute the surge in Covid cases in rural areas to the return of the migrants. “The movement of the migratory labourers started from the beginning of May and resulted in a spread of the disease in about a fortnight. A surge in the rural areas was imminent in mid-May and that is what has happened,” said virologist Amitava Nandy.
Malda recorded its first Covid case on April 27 and till May 7, the district’s count was only 3. At present, Malda has 192 Covid patients — all migrants back from other states. North Dinajpur kept its slate clean till May 8. On May 9, three migrant returnees tested positive and the number rose to 202 by June 5. Cooch Behar witnessed a sudden spike after May 28 and now has over 139 cases. Murshidabad, too, has crossed the 100-mark. Darjeeling and Alipurduar, both green zones till last week, had 77 and 12 positives respectively till Friday.
The first train carrying migrants reached Bengal on May 5 and since then there have been 150 trains that have brought migrants labourers back home. At present there are 1, 39,624 migratory labourers in 11,504 quarantine centres of the state while another 55,871 workers have been released.
“With the arrival of migrants, there has been a shift of the disease from the urban to the rural areas and the gap will now widen. It could have been restricted with better monitoring and surveillance,” virologist Amitava Nandy said.
RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS) consultant Arindam Biswas pointed out that an increase in the number of tests, too, has contributed to a rise in the share of districts. “Over the last one month, more testing labs have come up in the districts and more Covid positives are being identified outside Kolkata,” said Biswas.
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