Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) visiting north Bengal to assess the COVID-19 situation wrote to the state government on Saturday, suggesting stricter implementation of lockdown there.

Two central teams are visiting the state – one in Kolkata and the other at Siliguri in north Bengal.

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In a letter to Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha, the central team in north Bengal, led by senior bureaucrat Vineet Joshi, said more field officers are required to monitor and provide feedback about the effectiveness of various measures undertaken by the government.

“As an immediate measure, it is suggested that stricter implementation of lockdown is absolutely necessary to avoid any further outbreak. A larger number of field officers are required to monitor and provide feedback about the effectiveness of various measures undertaken by the government,” Joshi said.

He also sought a meeting with the police commissioner of Siliguri and details regarding the state’s preparedness against COVID-19 in north Bengal.

West Bengal has already come under fire for not following lockdown guidelines issued by Central government to curb the spread of novel Coronavirus and deciding on the deaths related to the infection.

On Friday, the state government linked 57 deaths to the novel Coronavirus after the IMCTs questioned state’s decision to form an audit committee to decide on COVID-19 fatalities.

Till Friday, Bengal had reported only 18 deaths, but the state’s audit committee later in the day revealed that 57 COVID-19 patients had died in the state of which 39 were due to co-morbidities.

Quoting the audit committee’s report, West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha stressed that out of 57 deaths in the state, only 18 were caused due to the coronavirus.

“We had requested the audit committee for a report on COVID-19 related deaths. Out of 57 deaths that have been audited by the committee, they have certified that 18 deaths were due to corona and 39 were due to severe comorbid conditions and COVID-19 was an incidental finding,” he said.

This partial admission of hiding the toll came after the central teams, following a visit to two hospitals in the state, wrote to the chief secretary citing several anomalies in the healthcare facilities including five-day or longer waiting time for test results of patients in isolation wards, bodies lying on beds for four hours while death certificate is made instead of sending it to mortuary, among others.

The letter also questioned the number of repeat tests and first-time patients after the state had informed that that its testing rate had gone up from around 400 a day to 900 per day.

The IMCT also sought an explanation on the methodology used by ‘Committee of Doctors’ in West Bengal to ascertain death due to COVID-19 and also if it is in line with ICMR guidelines. The central team also sought an interaction with this committee to understand their methodology.

The Centre had on April 20 deputed two IMCTs for West Bengal to make on-spot assessment of situation and issue necessary directions to state authorities for its redressal and submit their report to central government in larger interest of general public.

The Centre’s decision to send the team has triggered a big row, with the Trinamool Congress government of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioning the need for such a delegation.

Mamata had shot off a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, describing the Centre’s decision as “unilateral”, and alleging it was sent without prior intimation, causing “breach of established protocol”.

She also dubbed the Union government’s selection of districts with ‘serious’ COVID-19 situation as a “figment of imagination”.

On Tuesday, the teams which have been deputed to Jalpaiguri and Kolkata in West Bengal had complained of not getting cooperation from the state government and the local administration. They drove through various parts of the city only late in the afternoon following a strongly-worded letter from the Centre to the state after the teams were made to stay put at a Border Security Force (BSF) facility since morning.