KOLKATA: At a time when the city is witnessing a drop in Covid cases,
Kolkata Police has been battling an unexpected rise in active cases over the last few days. The active cases, said sources in the
Lalbazar welfare cell, stood at 25 on Wednesday morning though the number had dropped to 18 in the beginning of the month.
Senior officers said it was too early to predict if year-end celebration duties could be responsible for this sudden rise but stated that the “increase was too marginal and too insignificant” to get worried about. However, all units have been asked to strictly follow protocols, be it during carrying out anti-crime and traffic naka checks or routine investigations.
“These are stray cases being reported across the divisions that are not limited to those who were on duty in central Kolkata. We cannot possibly be completely Covid-free until the vaccination starts and these numbers are likely to remain stagnant between 20-25 over the next few weeks,” explained an officer. So far, more than 3,300 personnel have been infected and 20 personnel have lost their lives.
Junior officers though said the rise in number right after the festive season has made them circumspect. “’There was no rise in cases even after Durga Puja. It is likely that the rising numbers have nothing to do with the festival, but one needs to be careful. At the police station, we have now evolved multiple ways from coming in contact with outsiders. But at the nakas — even without breath analysers — we are being forced to judge whether a person is indeed drunk. Often, we ask the motorist to talk to us to evaluate him. Even with our masks on, this is risky,” said a sergeant in central Kolkata.
Between July and August, we had reported 30-50 fresh cases daily. It fell to less than 20 in early September before puja shopping and its allied arrangements pushed the figures past 25 again. The active cases ranged between 80-120 each day. “Much before Durga Puja, on October 8, we had more than 2,600 active cases. Since then, in a span of two months, we saw an addition of 600 odd cases. Most of the six fresh deaths in this time were either men with some co-morbidity or were reportedly hospitalized for a really long time after they developed allied complications,” explained an officer at Lalbazar.