In what seemed to be a response to the doubts raised by opposition political parties over reports of reduced Covid positivity rates within areas of Kolkata Municipal Corporation at a time when testing rates are apparently low, the civic body has claimed that Covid self-test kits are responsible for the drop in the number of RT PCR tests and for keeping KMC in the dark concerning data related to Covid positive cases.

Over the past few days, as per the KMC data, the rate of positivity has dropped within KMC areas which also brought down the number of containment zones in the city. However, this has been questioned since the rate of Covid tests has significantly dropped. After a meeting with civic officials of Borough 10 that has registered a considerable number of Covid cases, deputy mayor Atin Ghosh today said that the KMC is not receiving the data of many Covid positive cases since many people are using self-testing Covid kits, now available in the market, due to which if they are testing positive the KMC is not getting to know.

Mr Ghosh further highlighted that this is also posing a danger to the lives of these people who have tested positive using the test kits. “This is because in case their condition deteriorates and they need to be admitted to hospitals, the KMC will not be able to extend any help including arranging for ambulances since we don’t have any information on the patient,” he explained.

The deputy mayor said the civic body will now begin public announcements from tomorrow informing citizens that they need to get a Covid RT PCR test done even if they test positive using self-test kits. “This is vital and there is a reason why RT PCR is a reliable method to get tested for coronavirus,” said Ghosh.

Additionally, the KMC officials said that most Covid cases have surfaced in residential complexes and high rises and the authorities of such housing complexes are failing to inform the civic body about the cases. “It is the responsibility of the committees of these residential complexes to inform us about the cases. The chairman or the secretary of the committee should inform us as they generally do while lodging complaints regarding other civic body-related issues on behalf of all residents of a particular housing complex.”

As per the new KMC list of containment zones in the city, the number has further dropped from 33 to 29 containment zones. Areas under Lake Police Station (P,S), Haridevpur P.S and Beliaghata P.S continue to have cluster cases. The three most affected wards are 93, 33 and ward 144.