The city’s daily new Covid case count has stayed above 100 in seven out of the last 10 days with doctors and public health experts warning of a rapid rise if people do not behave responsibly.
The number of new Covid cases reported from the city over the past 10 days stands in contrast with the daily count in the first week of August, or even mid-August, when the numbers stayed between 60 and 85, save a few exceptions.
On August 1, Kolkata reported 60 new cases. A fortnight later on August 15, 77 new cases were reported from the city.
But over the past week, the daily numbers have shot up. According to the state health department, Kolkata reported 128 new cases on Sunday, 129 on Saturday, 110 on Friday, 122 on Thursday and 106 on Wednesday.
The three consecutive days before Wednesday had less than 100 new cases.
Some of the hospitals in Kolkata said the number of patients admitted at their facilities was not going down for several weeks.
The RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences had a dozen Covid patients on Sunday.
“For the last two months the number of patients in Covid wards has been varying between 10 and 12. It is not going down,” said R. Venkatesh, regional director, east, Narayana Health, of which the Mukundapur hospital is the flagship unit.
Doctors and public health experts warned that with the festive season approaching, there always remains a threat of a surge if people do not follow Covid-appropriate behaviour.
“There is nothing new to say. Wear a mask, maintain a 6ft distance from another person, avoid crowds, wash your hands with soap or sanitise them frequently. These are all one needs to do to stay safe from Covid,” said a doctor.
But across Kolkata pictures of people thronging markets and shopping hubs without masks, or wearing masks improperly, are quite common.
The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and police are conducting joint awareness campaigns in markets and other shopping hubs, telling people that Covid is far from over and warning them against dropping their guard.
According to public health expert Abhijit Chowdhury, people would invite a disaster if they violate the Covid protocols. “Last year, we could prevent a post-Durga Puja surge because we as people behaved responsibly. This year, too, we need to behave in a similar way. Avoid crowds and wear a mask. If we behave recklessly, we will only invite a disaster,” Chowdhury had warned a couple of days ago.
Many of those testing positive for Covid are partially or fully vaccinated, but the number of such people requiring hospitalisation is negligible, said a KMC doctor.
The KMC is tasked with tracking the health of those testing positive for Covid in Kolkata.
“We call people who are testing positive. While talking to them, we note down their vaccination status. Our statistics show that a large number of people who have tested positive in recent weeks have taken one or both doses of a Covid vaccine,” the KMC doctor said.
“But only a negligible number of vaccinated people are developing a severe form of the disease and requiring hospital admission.”
The KMC is also focusing on ramping up vaccination to ensure that all eligible Kolkatans get the jab at the earliest.