Kolkata: Bengal and eastern India's largest metropolis Kolkata, is in the throes of a third wave of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic which may last well into February with a peak sometime in the second week of this month, according to health experts.
They held the lack of vision on the part of the state administration in allowing large congregations and festivities as well as Covid fatigue and complacency on the part of people for the current surge of Covid-19 cases here.
"If you see the surge in the last five days, it's evident that the third wave is already here in West Bengal. It's also there in other metros like New Delhi and Mumbai. Cases in our state, especially in Kolkata have gone up by 12 fold. Every third person coming for a test is testing positive for the disease, "Dr. Anima Halder principal of state-run Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General (ID&BG) Hospital told the media.
West Bengal like the rest of the country witnessed its first wave in March 2020 and another after elections to the state assembly in May-June last year.
Dr. Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, Associate Professor of Burdwan Medical College, who has been handling COVID cases since the outbreak of the pandemic, said "The infections that we see at the moment is not a result of the congregation we witnessed on December 24-25 and on New Year's eve, that will come in the next few days."
"As of now, going by the last few weeks' happenings, it seems that the graph will continue to rise," he added.
Dr Bandyopadhyay however also said that if the ongoing restrictions are continued, a flattening of the curve "may soon be seen."
"We were very well placed even in the first two weeks of December," but the complacent attitude of common people which was compounded by a lack of vision on the part of the authorities saw the situation deteriorating, he said.
" We saw policemen pleading with people to wear masks. That's shocking. A stricter approach could have saved us from this," Dr Bandyopadhyay told the media.
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