In a 1st, drainage water samples to undergo RT-PCR test
KOLKATA: For the first time in India, the Bengal government is going to conduct RTPCR and genome sequencing on the water samples collected from sewer lines and drains to ascertain if there is any outbreak of Covid in the particular region.
The National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani (NIBMG) will join hands with the state health department and various civic bodies. Health officials have already held a meeting with the various civic bodies to chalk out a detailed plan in this regard. According to the experts, SARS Cov 2 virus affects the respiratory system. There are also some receptors in the pancreas which receive Coronavirus and then it exits from the body through stools. As a result, there is a possibility to get an idea about the outbreak of a particular area if the samples from the swearlines are tested at the NIBMG.
Incidentally, daily Covid infection slightly dropped on Saturday with 1499 daily cases being reported while on Friday the daily cases stood at 1,739.
Around 1,524 cases were reported on Thursday. As many as three people have died of Covid across the state on Saturday. One of these three was from North Bengal. According to sources, North Bengal on Saturday reported its first casualty of the season on Saturday.
According to the sources, around 40 per cent of infected patients are from Kolkata which has become a concern for the health department. Kolkata and North 24-Parganas have always been the major contributors of Covid infected cases.
Around 550 daily infected cases have been reported from going up since last week. State saw over 1,500 daily cases for the last time in early February this year following which the curve started flattening. No fatality was reported in the state on Friday.
The recovery rate on Saturday dropped to 98.50 per cent from what stood at 98.55 per cent on Friday. Around 483 patients have recovered in the past 24 hours. State had a sudden jump from last week after the Covid curve had almost flattened for the past 3-4 months.
Around 10.036 samples were tested across the state on Saturday. State has so far carried out 25,579,070 sample tests so far till date. Around 8,931 patients are in home isolation on Saturday.
Around 359 patients are in hospitals as on Saturday. There are none in safe homes yet.