Amidst apprehension that the third wave of the Covid19 pandemic may hit India by the end of August, the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts’ recent high test positivity rates of 7.7 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively, the highest and second-highest among the districts in the state, coupled with the heavy influx of tourists in the Darjeeling hills and the Dooars is being increasingly red-flagged as much by health authorities in Kolkata as by worried experts in north Bengal.

According to the state health department’s sentinel survey report, the positivity rate of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri – the two sparsely populated districts of Bengal with populations close to 16 lakhs and 24 lakhs-has shot
up to an unprecedented scale since late June.

The report stated that compared to early July, when the positivity rate was 6.75 per cent in Darjeeling district, the infection rate has shockingly breached the 7 per cent mark, which is two per cent higher than the safe mark set
by World Health Organization.

According to criteria published by WHO in May 2020, a test positivity rate of more than 5 per cent is an indicator that the infection is out of control in a locality.

The sentinel surveys in July and August were conducted by health officials as part of a state government’s decision to conduct a study every month to find out the areawise extent of infection and rate of community transmission in the state and formulate a proper and effective vaccination policy on the basis of the collected data.

The sentinel surveys are conducted mainly on the basis of RTPCR tests of samples collected from individuals, who are mild symptomatic or asymptomatic. A total of 400 such samples are being collected from each district every month and the health department plans to collect and test a total of 11, 200 samples per month.

Experts in north Bengal, who welcomed this effort of the government, expressed grave concern over the fact that the positivity rate of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts were far ahead of the overall positivity rate of the state, which stood at a mere 1.49 per cent. They feared that the two districts might soon crumble under the covid crisis if no immediate steps were taken to bring down the rate and the number of cases.

The Head of the Department of Microbiology at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Dr Arunava Sarkar told this correspondent that though the high positivity rate in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts was mainly because of the second wave arriving late in north Bengal, it was definitely a matter of serious concern.

“The second wave arrived late in north Bengal, and therefore, it is most likely to disappear late. When Kolkata and south Bengal districts were reporting a large number of cases during April-May, the second wave had not arrived in our region. But the high positivity rate for so many weeks at a stretch is a cause of concern,” he said.

Dr Sarkar felt that the unrestricted and unabated tourism in the hills and Dooars as well as a massive flow of traffic through the Siliguri corridor were the main reasons for the high rate of positivity here.

“Siliguri is the gateway to Nepal, Bhutan, Sikkim and north-eastern states. People from all over the country pass through this corridor regularly. For the past two months, a large number of people from various states in the country are flocking to the popular mountain and terai retreats in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts almost every day to escape the searing summer heat and make the most of a recent decline in the country’s coronavirus caseload, following a devastating second wave of the virus this year.

Almost none of these people as well as residents of the region are following the covid protocols properly. If this continues for long, it might be difficult to bring down the rate,” he cautioned. Dr Sarkar, who is also the Principal Investigator at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Centre in NBMCH, pointed out that the high positivity rate in the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts could be because of the high number of tests conducted in these districts every day.

“We may be in the news for reporting the highest positivity rate for the past several days. But the NBMCH, which tests samples from Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and west Aliprduar, is leading in the testing rate among the districts in Bengal.

We test about 700 to 900 samples from the Darjeeling district every day. Overall, we test around 1500 to 1700 samples every day,” said Dr Sarkar, who informed that Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Alipurduar would come up with their own testing centres in a week.

The senior microbiologist, who lauded the efforts of the government to stem the spread of the coronavirus in north Bengal, said that these efforts might not bear fruit if tourists and the residents of the region do follow the standard operating procedures.

“A strict lockdown is the only way to limit the pandemic. But it will once again destroy livelihoods and squeeze the economy. The residents of our region must realize this and adhere to the covid protocols strictly,” he said. A renowned surgeon of Siliguri, Dr Kaushik Bhattacharya, who agreed with Dr Sarkar, said the main cause for concern was the fact that the surge in the positivity rate over the past few weeks had not seen a parallel rise in inoculation in the remote rural areas of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri.

“The rise in positivity rate is largely attributable to an abysmally poor vaccine penetration in the rural and remote areas of north Bengal, especially among the hill and forest villagers along the Indo-Nepal, Indo-Bhutan and Indo-Bangladesh borders. The penetration has been hampered by many challenges including digital dependency issues arising from mandatory registration on the Co-WIN app for those between 18 and 44 years of age.

Access to vaccination centers has got significantly disrupted, especially for socioeconomically weaker sections in far-off villages, who are digitally illiterate, lack of smartphone accessibility, no or disrupted internet connectivity and language disconnect.

These poor households belonging to these sections are also vulnerable to face wage loss as they can’t afford to forgo a day’s wage in such a time, especially to first spend hours booking a slot online, followed by the possible need to take days off to stand for hours or even days in queues before their respective vaccination centres and take each member of his/her family to those centres, which are located miles away,” he said.

Dr Bhattacharya stressed the need to enable last-mile connectivity in the vaccination drive similar to the development of polling booths during elections.

“What could help to ensure that our vaccination drive really progresses exclusion free without exacerbating existing inequities, is social mobilisation strategies to reach the unreachable. Equitable access to getting vaccines, walk-in options for those with special needs and conducting vaccinations without the burden of providing identity proof is the need of the hour,” he suggested.