Kolkata positivity rate starts to slide as new cases fall

KOLKATA: Covid positivity rate in Kolkata, that had shot up to as high as 19% towards July-end and early August, has started sliding. On August 24, the city’s overall positivity rate stood at 16.5%, latest data available with TOI shows. With the metropolis recording only 1,105 cases in the past two days, health officials say the positivity rate would have dipped further. According to experts, fresh cases in the city are on a decline despite ramped-up testing and hence the downslide in positivity rate is expected to continue.

Positivity rate is the percentage of people testing Covid-positive among all those who have been tested for the virus.

The overall Covid positivity rate in the state has stabilized at a little above 8% in the past few days. In fact, there has been a marginal decline in the past four days. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has, however, expressed concern over North 24 Parganas, where the rate is as high as 20.6%.
“Though the positivity rate in Kolkata is still higher than the state average, it has come down quite impressively over the past fortnight. Kolkata was the first in Bengal to be hit by the virus and therefore it had to be the most affected,” said a senior health official at Swasthya Bhawan. “Now our worry is North 24 Parganas. We are scaling up measures in all districts, especially North 24 Parganas,” said the official.
In July, North 24 Parganas had recorded 12,045 positive cases against Kolkata’s 20,417. But the trend reversed in the past fortnight with North 24 Parganas racing ahead in numbers. It recorded 7,649 fresh infections in the last 12 days against Kolkata’s 6,732.
“Cases coming down in Kolkata is an encouraging sign. The kind of policies adopted in Kolkata needs to be replicated in districts that are reporting high number of cases. In addition to ramping up testing, norms like physical distancing, wearing masks in public places, not allowing mass gatherings could help in containing the virus,” said Debkishore Gupta, infectious diseases control specialist at CMRI.
Diptendra Sarkar, surgical oncologist at SSKM Hospital, said the daily positivity rate in Bengal had peaked between July 22 and 25, when it was close to 18%. But thereafter there has been a gradual decline.
“If we take into account the number of tests on Wednesday, which was 40,031, and the number of fresh cases, which was 2,974, the day’s positivity rate in Bengal is down to about 7.4%. This was as high as 18% between July 22 and 25,” Sarkar said.
While Kolkata is already in a declining phase, its neighbouring districts, too, will soon see a dip in numbers, feel health experts, who also warn that smaller districts like Alipurduar and Jhargram could see a rise in number.
So far nearly 2.3 lakh tests have been conducted in Kolkata, around 1.5 lakh in North 24 Parganas, 1.4 lakh in South 24 Parganas and close to 95,000 in Howrah.