Covid numbers in the state have crept up over the last fortnight with the daily new infections crossing 50 thrice in the last seven days.
Data published by the state health department showed 53 new cases were reported on Monday, 59 on Sunday, 31 on Saturday, 42 on Friday, 57 on Thursday and 39 on Wednesday.
About a fortnight back, the numbers were hovering around 30 mostly.
The last time the daily new Covid infections touched 50 before this spell was on May 14, when the state recorded 57 cases.
In Kolkata, the number of new cases reported from Thursday to Sunday were 16, 8, 15 and 22, respectively.
The positivity rate on Monday went above 1 per cent, for the first time in many days. Monday’s positivity rate was 1.10 per cent.
The positivity rate had remained below 0.50 per cent on most days in the last fortnight.
The positivity rate is the number of samples that turn out to be positive out of every 100 samples tested. It is an indicator of whether the infection rate is going up or sliding down.
The positivity rate was 0.62 per cent on June 5 and 0.74 per cent on June 2. On May 31, it was 0.66 per cent.
Doctors said there was no reason to panic but also advised that people should again start wearing masks, something that the vast majority of the population has stopped doing.
The Telegraph spoke to officials of some private hospitals who said they had not yet noticed any significant rise in the number of samples testing positive in their laboratories but a public health expert anticipated a further rise in daily infections.
Public health expert Abhijit Chowdhury said he apprehended that the numbers would see a further rise within seven or 10 days.
“The number of new Covid cases will most likely rise in the next seven to 10 days in keeping with the trend in many other places in the country. Mumbai has witnessed a significant rise in the number of new Covid cases,” said Chowdhury.
“It may not take too many days before we see a similar trend in Kolkata,” he said.
Chowdhury, who is a member of the state government’s Covid task force, said people should keep wearing masks as it would protect them in the event of a surge in cases. Across the city and the state, most people are no longer wearing masks.
“Everything has opened up now. It is not possible to maintain physical distance in public places. But a mask can help protect one from getting infected,” said Chowdhury.