In Bengal, increase in testing but rise in cases the same

nKOLKATA: West Bengal’s average daily increase in the number of Covid-19 patients has remained almost the same over the past fortnight even though the testing rate has increased by over three folds, according to an analysis of available data. This has resulted in a sharp decline in the percentage of Covid positive people among those tested .

Between May 5 and 7, the state tested 7,637 samples, averaging 2,545 daily. In those three days, 289 more people tested positive, with an average of 96.3 people daily. But between May 17 and 19, the state tested 24,994 samples, with 8,331 tests daily on an average. During these days, 385 people tested positive, with an average of 128 persons daily. With this, the state has recorded a significant improvement in the percentage of people tested positive for the disease among those tested for it. The percentage stood at 4.87% on May 5. It has since come down to 3.11% on May 17.

“The data reflects the state’s success in containing the diseases by enforcing a successful lockdown...,” said Santanu Sen, TMC Rajya Sabha MP.

West Bengal Doctors’ Forum secretary Koushik Chaki said the data could be misleading. “This mismatch in the rate of testing and the percentage of people testing positive could have happened due to more testing in the areas lesser affected by the disease...”.

A health department official, who did not want to be identified, said that the high rate of negative results is also because of pool testing. “Nearly 11,000 tests were conducted in Malda and Murshidabad districts but only 43 cases were reported.”