KOLKATA: With nearly one fourth of the total Covid-19 cases in the state being from Kolkata, the city has been the worst affected since the beginning of the pandemic. But over the last one week, neighbouring North 24 Parganas has surged ahead of Kolkata in terms of fresh cases. The district as recorded more cases than the city during this period.
“This was expected. The virus arrived in Kolkata first and travelled to the districts. So Kolkata was the first to be hit the hardest. Now its periphery will start showing more cases,” said Institute of Child Health associate professor Sumon Poddar, who is also in charge of the molecular biology lab at the institute.
North 24 Parganas started taking over Kolkata in terms of fresh cases since mid-August. In between August 15 and 21, the district reported a total of 4,604 cases against 4,093 cases in Kolkata during the same period. Till August 21, Kolkata recorded 35,178 Covid positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic and North 24 Parganas has had 28,072 cases. The city currently has 6,114 active cases against 5,806 active cases in North 24 Parganas.
“While Kolkata was the worst affected, neighbouring Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas was also badly affected compared to other districts. Now, North 24 Parganas seems to be racing ahead of Kolkata,” said a health department official. While Covid-19 cases were initially reported from north and south Dum Dum in the district, infection rates in localities like Kamarhati, Panihati, Barrackpore near the city and Barasat, Habra and pockets Bongaon are steeply rising.
“It also reflects that testing in the periphery has increased. It could mean more people in the rural areas are having access to testing facilities. They are shedding the stigma to come forward and get tested. It is a good sign. This is the correct way of containing the infection,” said infectious diseases control specialist Debkishore Gupta of CMRI.
Kolkata was recording more than 700 fresh cases in the first week of August. But the number saw a gradual decline and has been reporting around 584 cases daily on an average in the past one week.
“The number of cases in Kolkata is going down slightly in the past few days. Active cases have gone down due to the better discharge rate. But this trend has to persist for a longer period for us to conclude that we are going downhill,” said microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury of Peerless Hospital.
Health experts said that along with Kolkata, its twin city Howrah too is seeing a slow decline in numbers. But they fear infection rate in districts like Murshidabad and Malda will surge in days ahead.
“This was expected. The virus arrived in Kolkata first and travelled to the districts. So Kolkata was the first to be hit the hardest. Now its periphery will start showing more cases,” said Institute of Child Health associate professor Sumon Poddar, who is also in charge of the molecular biology lab at the institute.
North 24 Parganas started taking over Kolkata in terms of fresh cases since mid-August. In between August 15 and 21, the district reported a total of 4,604 cases against 4,093 cases in Kolkata during the same period. Till August 21, Kolkata recorded 35,178 Covid positive cases since the beginning of the pandemic and North 24 Parganas has had 28,072 cases. The city currently has 6,114 active cases against 5,806 active cases in North 24 Parganas.
“While Kolkata was the worst affected, neighbouring Howrah, North and South 24 Parganas was also badly affected compared to other districts. Now, North 24 Parganas seems to be racing ahead of Kolkata,” said a health department official. While Covid-19 cases were initially reported from north and south Dum Dum in the district, infection rates in localities like Kamarhati, Panihati, Barrackpore near the city and Barasat, Habra and pockets Bongaon are steeply rising.
“It also reflects that testing in the periphery has increased. It could mean more people in the rural areas are having access to testing facilities. They are shedding the stigma to come forward and get tested. It is a good sign. This is the correct way of containing the infection,” said infectious diseases control specialist Debkishore Gupta of CMRI.
Kolkata was recording more than 700 fresh cases in the first week of August. But the number saw a gradual decline and has been reporting around 584 cases daily on an average in the past one week.
“The number of cases in Kolkata is going down slightly in the past few days. Active cases have gone down due to the better discharge rate. But this trend has to persist for a longer period for us to conclude that we are going downhill,” said microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury of Peerless Hospital.
Health experts said that along with Kolkata, its twin city Howrah too is seeing a slow decline in numbers. But they fear infection rate in districts like Murshidabad and Malda will surge in days ahead.
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