New cases hit a century in biggest single-day spike in current wave
In May beginning, the city had only a single Covid-positive case. By the end of the third week of May, 12 more individuals tested positive. Health officials said the rapid spike began at the end of May when the active case load piled up to 205. From June 1, the state logged daily positive cases in double digits until it scaled up to three digits on Thursday.
"There still is an uptick in states like Kerala, Delhi, and Maharashtra, and hence we are likely to see an upward Covid graph in our state for now.
Even as we are still getting very few samples, most of these samples are coming positive," said microbiologist Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri of Peerless Hospital.
Doctors said the present case load is unlikely to be the true picture of the infection in the community, as many are not coming forward to test. While the infection is mild in almost all cases, they said detecting the infection was important to protect the vulnerable.
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"The virus is likely to stay for a few more weeks. While the good aspect is that most infections are mild, if the numbers keep surging, there will be a few patients who will be vulnerable to severe infection," said infectious diseases specialist Sayan Chakraborty of Manipal Hospitals, Dhakuria.
Apart from Bengal, three other states reported daily cases in three digits on Thursday: Kerala (114), Karnataka (112) and Delhi (105).
"While the disease is causing only flu-like symptoms, the surge in numbers is a concern as the infection can be more aggressive on the geriatric population and the immunocompromised," said infectious disease control specialist Debkishore Gupta.
While the state has reported only one Covid-19 related death so far, doctors said that if the number of cases continues to rise, there can be more mortality. Some hospitals have a few patients admitted to the ICU.
"Among the seven admitted to our hospital, three senior citizens with comorbidities are requiring oxygen, while the rest are being treated in the ward," said Doli Biswas, chief nursing officer at Fortis Hospital Anandapur.
Fifteen Covid-positive patients are under care at Ruby General Hospital. Sources said none has a severe infection. "While none of the four patients under our care has a severe infection, they are in hospital care due to their comorbidities," said Charnock Hospital general manager Ipsita Kundu.
Most hospitals across the city currently have Covid positive patients, including the govt facilities. "We currently have three patients, including an infant and the mother. None of them is requiring intensive care so far," said Sudipta Mitra, CEO of Peerless Hospital.
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