The state clinical establishment commission on Wednesday appealed to doctors at private hospitals not directly involved in Covid treatment to stay in the city during the festive period so they can help their colleagues if there is a spurt in Covid cases.

At a news conference on Wednesday, retired judge Ashim Kumar Banerjee, the chairperson of the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission, said the private hospitals would be asked to keep contact details of these doctors so they could be called if there was a surge in the number of Covid patients.

Banerjee said it was usual for many doctors to leave the city during Durga Puja. “Our experience shows that doctors such as skin specialists, eye specialists and plastic surgeons are not that burdened with patients during the pandemic. We appeal to them to stay in the city on festival days,” he said.

“It is mostly general medicine practitioners, pulmonologists and critical care specialists who are bearing the maximum workload of treating Covid-19 patients. We appeal to other doctors to help their colleagues who are primarily involved in treatment of Covid patients if any emergency arises,” Banerjee said.

An official of a private hospital said cardiologists, nephrologists and neurologists, too, were directly involved in managing Covid patients.

Sudipto Mitra, the chief executive of Peerless Hospital, said the commission’s appeal would strengthen the hands of the administrations of private hospitals.

“This is a very good appeal. The managing director of our hospital had issued an appeal to all doctors to not take leave in October this year. We have received a very good response,” said Mitra.

“We are issuing this appeal to doctors through the press and media. We have asked the administrations of private hospitals to talk to their doctors. The private hospitals can keep contact details of all such doctors so their services can be used during an emergency,” said commission chairperson Banerjee.

When asked if the commission was making the appeal for only the four days of Durga Puja or for a longer period, Banerjee said: “We are requesting them to stay in the city during the festival period. It is up to the doctors to decide.”

An official of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation said the city was reporting about 500 new Covid-19 cases about a month ago. The daily numbers have gone up to over 700. The count will go up further if people throng the streets and pandals during the Puja.