12 more test positive for COVID-19 in Bengal, 3 discharged after recovery

Twelve more people tested positive for COVID-19 in West Bengal, taking the total number of active cases in the state to 80, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said here on Thursday. Banerjee, who chaired a meeting of trade and industry representatives at Nabanna, the state secretariat, also said that three persons were discharged from hospital following recovery.

"Till yesterday, the number of active cases stood at 71. Today, three persons were released, but 12 fresh cases were reported. The total number of active cases now stands at 80 in Bengal," Banerjee said. Among the 12 are a health worker and the medical superintendent-cum-vice principal (MSVP) of a state-run hospital in Howrah, the chief minister said.

Family members of the MSVP and the health worker have been placed under quarantine.

The chief minister, however, took solace in the fact that 79 medical staffers at the city’s Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College, where a patient died last week, have tested negative for the disease.

"All 79 people including doctors, nurses and health workers at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College have tested negative for coronavirus, and this is good news,” she said.

Maintaining that she was unsure how long the lockdown would continue, Banerjee stressed that even if the shutdown remains in force, "things have to be looked into from a humane point of view to ensure that common people don't starve".

"I cannot say how long this lockdown will continue. There are so many occasions lined up...yesterday there was Shab-a-Barat, then there is Bengali New Year in a few days, next comes 'charak mela', but people cannot gather or celebrate due to the lockdown...,” she said.

“We will be meeting (a scheduled meeting with the PM) on April 11 to review the situation. But if the lockdown continues, we must see things from a humanitarian point of view so that people do not starve to death.... we have to maintain a balance," Banerjee said.

The government has set up 711 camps, where it is feeding two lakh migrant labourers and others stranded in the state since April 1, she said.

"Our government is feeding two lakh migrant labourers and stranded people from 16 other states. Most of these people are being taken care of by our government... Some NGOs have also come forward to help. This (initiative) will continue till the time it's needed," she said.

The chief minister also said that chances of schools reopening were quite slim, and that dry rations to the beneficiaries of mid-day meals will be distributed in the first week of May.

The state government on Thursday launched a mobile app 'Sandhane' for ASHA workers - who would conduct surveys and upload information on areas, where people in large numbers were exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19. The administration, with the help of the information from the app, will earmark vulnerable areas and take necessary action to contain the spread of the disease.

Showing a map prepared by the government on clusters where a number of people were found infected, Banerjee said eight hotspots have been identified in Bengal.

"We have to control it (the spread of COVID-19) in these areas. My officials have done a very good job. We have to concentrate more on Howrah," she said. So far, 104 people have been infected by the novel coronavirus in West Bengal. Of them five have died, and 19 recovered from the disease.