‘Don’t do this’: Bengal CM on resistance in setting up Covid-19 hospitals

Covid-19 update: Mamata Banerjee, while addressing the media on Friday, said, “I’m urging everybody to protect yourself in a bid to save your family members and loved ones.”

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday urged people to strictly maintain social distancing amid the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak.

Chief minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee (C) arrives during the inguration of a month-long blood donation camp organised by the police during a government-imposed nationwide lockdown as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 coronavirus in Kolkata. (AFP)

On Friday, the state government reported four new cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, taking the total tally to 57. Of them, 38 were described as “active cases”, as 12 have recovered and seven died. The government, however, suspects that four of the seven Covid-19 deaths were due to “co-morbidity”.

“The Covid-19 infection spreads among family members. We’ve come across one case in which 10 people in a family have tested Covid-19 positive. There are other cases, including the one in which five members of a family have tested Covid-19 positive. I’m urging everybody to protect yourself in a bid to save your family members and loved ones,” Banerjee said while addressing the media on Friday.

The CM also expressed concerns over incidents that some people were objecting to setting up of Covid-19 hospitals in their localities.

“We’re not mixing Covid-19 cases with other patients. We’re setting up hospitals in every district exclusively for novel coronavirus. But some people are objecting to our move. Some are even objecting to the cremation of the dead. I urge you not to do this. I remind you that under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, the government is the final authority to decide on such matters,” Banerjee said.

Of the total 5,110 people who have been quarantined in government-run centres, 3,218 have been released, the government said. Of the 54,965 people asked to be quarantined at home, 2,936 are released, it added.