AFPThe Covid-19 positivity rate has decreased significantly in West Bengal following imposition of lockdown from May 15-31 to break the chain, said chief minister Mamata Banerjee.
The state government has extended the lockdown till June 15 to reduce the infection rate further. “It is a hopeful scenario that the Covid positivity rate in West Bengal has come down from 33% to 18-19%. Along with that, the death rate in Bengal has also gone down to 0.56% this year in comparison to 1.51% during the first wave last year,” said Banerjee.
Though the state’s overall positivity rate has decreased, Union health and family welfare ministry’s recent data from May 23-29 shows certain districts of North Bengal, which had low positivity rate, especially Coochbehar, Dinajpur, Maldah and Murshidabad, saw an increase in the positivity rate to 30-49%. Maldah district has the highest positivity rate of 49%, Murshidabad 35%, Coochbehar 32% and Dinajpur South 30%. Other districts haven’t been mentioned in the Centre’s data.
“Restrictions imposed across the state have helped to break the chain of the pandemic. The rate of affected and death has also gone down, following the initiative taken by Mamata Banerjee,” Kolkata Municipal Corporation chairperson Firhad Hakim said, as he joined office on Saturday, following interim bail on Friday by Calcutta High Court’s larger bench.
Urging everyone to take the vaccine, Firhad said the only way to curb the pandemic is by vaccination. “Everyone should get vaccinated at the earliest. It is the only way to restrict the pandemic. In most of the safe homes and hospitals, beds are available now as the rate of infection has gone down in West Bengal,” he said. Till last week, the Covid positivity rates in Kolkata and adjoining districts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia were the highest in West Bengal. In these districts, which had notably gone to the polls in the last phases of the assembly election, the positivity rate had crossed an alarming 30%.
Till May 22, in North 24 Paraganas district, the positivity rate had crossed 41.6%, highest in the state. In Kolkata, it had touched 38.3% and in Nadia it had gone above 35.4%, according to the central ministry’s data.
The state government has extended the lockdown till June 15 to reduce the infection rate further. “It is a hopeful scenario that the Covid positivity rate in West Bengal has come down from 33% to 18-19%. Along with that, the death rate in Bengal has also gone down to 0.56% this year in comparison to 1.51% during the first wave last year,” said Banerjee.
Though the state’s overall positivity rate has decreased, Union health and family welfare ministry’s recent data from May 23-29 shows certain districts of North Bengal, which had low positivity rate, especially Coochbehar, Dinajpur, Maldah and Murshidabad, saw an increase in the positivity rate to 30-49%. Maldah district has the highest positivity rate of 49%, Murshidabad 35%, Coochbehar 32% and Dinajpur South 30%. Other districts haven’t been mentioned in the Centre’s data.
“Restrictions imposed across the state have helped to break the chain of the pandemic. The rate of affected and death has also gone down, following the initiative taken by Mamata Banerjee,” Kolkata Municipal Corporation chairperson Firhad Hakim said, as he joined office on Saturday, following interim bail on Friday by Calcutta High Court’s larger bench.
Urging everyone to take the vaccine, Firhad said the only way to curb the pandemic is by vaccination. “Everyone should get vaccinated at the earliest. It is the only way to restrict the pandemic. In most of the safe homes and hospitals, beds are available now as the rate of infection has gone down in West Bengal,” he said. Till last week, the Covid positivity rates in Kolkata and adjoining districts of North 24 Parganas and Nadia were the highest in West Bengal. In these districts, which had notably gone to the polls in the last phases of the assembly election, the positivity rate had crossed an alarming 30%.
Till May 22, in North 24 Paraganas district, the positivity rate had crossed 41.6%, highest in the state. In Kolkata, it had touched 38.3% and in Nadia it had gone above 35.4%, according to the central ministry’s data.
Read More News on
Download The Economic Times News App to get Daily Market Updates & Live Business News.