Apprehension of Covid-19 surge in West Bengal during Durga Puja grows

The apprehension of a possible surge in Covid-19 cases in West Bengal during Durga Puja seems to be growing stronger among both medical regulatory bodies and some big ticket Durga Puja organisers.

While the West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) urged doctors not to leave Kolkata during the four days of Durga Puja, a major Durga Puja in North Kolkata decided not to allow any visitors except from those in its neighbourhood.

WBCERC chairman Justice (Retd) Ashim Kumar Banerjee said that since doctors work intensively throughout the year, usually they go outside the city during the four days of Durga Puja.

“It will be a lot of help if the doctors, regardless of their specialisation, stay in the city during Durga Puja this year as it is a crisis situation,” he said.

The WBCERC chairman also said that the Commission had urged private prepare a list of doctors with specialisations in treatment of eyes, skin or ENT who were not treating Covid-19 patients. He said that the step would be helpful if there were a shortage of manpower in case of a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in the state during Durga Puja.

The Commission also urged private hospitals to prepare a database of patients who had recovered from the infection so that they could be contacted in case there was a need for plasma donation.

Meanwhile, the famous Santosh Mitra Square Durga Puja Committee in North Kolkata has decided not to allow any visitors inside at its pandal apart from those in its neighbourhood in view of the pandemic.

“We know its a tough decision. But we firmly believe that festivities can never be more important that human lives,” said Pradip Ghosh, the president, and Sajol Ghosh, the general secretary of the puja committee in a joint statement.

Another Durga Puja, Maddox Square Ballygunge Durga Puja Samity, known for it’s iconic fair-like gathering of pandal hoppers along with wide variety of popular street foods-fondly called “adda” by Bengalis, have decided to do away with the gathering this year in view of the pandemic.