West Bengal: Covid cases cross 1,000 mark in Salt Lake, Rajarhat and Gopalpur

KOLKATA: Active Covid cases in the Salt Lake and Rajarhat-Gopalpur areas under Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) crossed the 1,000-mark with an average of 170 to 180 cases being reported daily.
The BMC officials said active Covid cases have doubled in the past 10 days and witnessed a 10-fold increase for the last one month. Even till June 19, active cases in the areas under BMC were below 100. Till Sunday, the number rose to 1,050.
The BMC has been conducting a ward-wise vaccination drive that started from July 2 and is slated to end on Tuesday. Civic officials, however, said that the response to take the booster dose has been lukewarm. "Not many people are coming to the camps for booster dose. Compared to previous vaccination drives for the first and the second shots - which were administered to over 1,000 people in each ward - around 30 to 35 people are taking booster dose in each ward," said a BMC health department official. However, the civic authorities will continue running the vaccination centres at its Matrisadan hospitals in Salt Lake and Rajarhat. "Most of the cases are very mild or asymptomatic as the affected people are recovering within five or six days. We have been urging people to complete their vaccine doses and booster shots and maintain the Covid safety protocols like wearing masks," said the official.
Meanwhile, South Dum Dum Municipality has prepared a list of more than 3,000 people who are yet to take their booster dose. The civic body has started a ward-wise vaccination drive, urging people to take their booster dose.
In the areas under South Dum Dum Municipality, the number of active cases has touched 100. The civic body has been operating mobile vans to conduct rapid antigen tests. "We have carried out a survey and found that about 3,000 people in South Dum Dum area are yet to take their booster shot," said South Dum Dum Municipality chairman-in-council (CIC), health, Sanjay Das.