E-Paper
Central team questions Bengal govt’s claim on Covid-19 testing
The Inter-Ministerial Central Team will submit its final report on Covid-19 situation in West Bengal to the Union Home Ministry on Monday.
An Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), which visited West Bengal to assess the Covid-19 situation, has said that there are discrepancies in reporting of cases in the state.
In its final status report submitted to the West Bengal government, the IMCT also raised questions on state government’s claim that it has surveyed 50 lakh people.
“A BSF driver in Kolkata developed symptoms on May 1. He was tested and the result came positive on May 3. But there has been no effort from anyone in the state government to trace the contacts or get his family tested,” an IMCT member told Hindustan Times.
In its report, accessed by HT, the central team said that the state government took an antagonistic view of the IMCT and did not support it in the performance of its duties. This is in contrast with the experience IMCT in other states, the team said in its report.
It further said that mortality rate in West Bengal is 12.8 per cent, the highest in country, which indicates low testing and weak surveillance and tracking.
It also said that a very robust system to collate and maintain the database of 50 lakh people. But the central team couldn’t find evidence of any such thing in West Bengal.
It further pointed out major discrepancy in number of cases reported by the state in its medical bulletin and its communication with central government. “The bulletin of April 30 showed active Covid cases as 572, discharged after treatment - 139 and expired due to Covid-19 - 33, making a total of 744. In a communication to union health secretary on the same day, total number of cases was indicated to be 931 leading to a discrepancy of 187 cases,” the IMCT said.
The IMCT, however, commended the efforts of West Bengal health department in increasing the testing rate from 400 a day on April 20, to 2,410 on May 2.
The IMCT will submit its final report to the Union Home Ministry on Monday.
The IMCT had earlier asked the West Bengal government to explain the methodology used to ascertain Covid-19 deaths and if it is in line with the guidelines stipulated by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier lashed out at the visiting IMCT delegations for calling her officers indiscriminately, thereby hampering the fight against Covid-19.
Two central teams had visited West Bengal last month for assessing the ground-level implementation of lockdown and management of Covid-19 in the state.
