Surge in Covid-19 cases in rural Bengal

KOLKATA: The coronavirus disease has spread to Bengal’s rural areas with nearly 200 migrant workers who recently returned from other states testing positive for the infection, and the numbers likely to rise as more arrive.

The trend is similar to that noticed in Bihar, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand, the other states where a large number of migrants have returned from states like Karnataka, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Punjab.

According to a senior West Bengal health department official 76 people tested positive in rural areas of Howrah district; 67 in the rural areas of Malda; 46 in Hooghly district and 30 in Uttar Dinajpur over the past three days.

Several cases have been reported from rural areas of Birbhum, Murshidabad and North 24-Parganas district as well, he said, requesting anonymity.

Almost all of the rural residents who tested positive were migrant workers who returned from other states, especially Maharashtra, officials said. More than a dozen trains have entered Bengal so far, carrying migrant workers, students and tourists stranded in other states.

No Shramik Special trains entered Bengal between May 20 and 26 because of Cyclone Amphan, but more are likely to arrive over the next few days.

A spokesperson for southeastern railway on Tuesday said the division had no word until 6pm of any train from Maharashtra coming to Bengal on Wednesday.

“In my district, the spike is due to migrants testing positive. All of them are asymptomatic. Besides, we are testing aggressively, with an average of over 3,000 tests per million population. Tracing such asymptomatic patients and keeping them isolated is our primary agenda,” said Malda district magistrate Rajarshi Mitra.