For the first time since the middle of June Covid-19 positivity rate in Bengal came down to around 6.5 per cent though the number of deaths caused by the viral disease seems a bone of contention to the Swasthya Bhaban, state health department headquarters at Salt Lake.
According to the Covid-19 bulletin released by the health department on Monday, 436 suspects tested novel coronavirus positive with reports of six deaths during the last 24 hours in the state.
The positivity rate has come down to 6.34 per cent showing a steady decline in number of Covid-affected cases. On Sunday, the positivity rate was 7.78 per cent recording deaths of seven patients across the city and districts.
A senior official in the public health wing in the health department felt that the steady decline in the number of Covid-affected cases since last week of July shows that the fourth wave of the pandemic may roll back by the middle of this month.
But the disease is claiming lives of six persons every day on an average in the state. The victims are mostly elderly people suffering from different diseases like kidney, heart, lungs and liver ailments, cancer with comorbidities, diabetes, high blood pressure and asthma, the official added requesting anonymity.
“The pandemic is over and it would gradually be treated as an endemic with a mild outbreak of every three-four months’ gap. Most of my patients died of their severe comorbidities though they had Covid infections. As per protocol and guidelines, their official causes of deaths are Covid. I would advise people to follow Covid appropriate guidelines like using masks and sanitisers,” said Dr Yogiraj Ray, an infection specialist attached with SSKM Hospital.