A hospital in Kolkata had a Covid patient admitted after almost two months. Another hospital is having Covid tests coming back positive once in a while.
Covid cases are low in Bengal. However, some hospitals and doctors in Kolkata said they have been getting Covid patients over the past few days, though most of the patients were asymptomatic or displaying mild symptoms.
The state on Monday recorded 14 new Covid cases. The day before the count stood at 40.
Doctors and public health experts are warning people against dropping their guard.
An 89-year-old woman from Shakespeare Sarani in the central business district got admitted to Peerless Hospital with Covid on Saturday night.
“She was running a temperature for two days. She tested positive for Covid at home. Her symptoms were mild but the family got her admitted because of her age,” said Sudipta Mitra, chief executive of Peerless Hospital.
She is the first Covid patient admitted to Peerless Hospital since end-March.
“I did not treat a single Covid patient for almost two months. But in the last couple of weeks I had a few patients who tested positive for Covid,” said Chandramouli Bhattacharya, infectious disease specialist at Peerless Hospital.
“Several of them had travelled outside Kolkata just before getting infected. One of them had travelled to Delhi and the other to Odisha.”
All the patients, he said, had mild symptoms.
“Many people have lowered their guard against Covid. They have become too casual…. Wearing masks and avoiding unnecessary social interactions should still be followed,” he said.
No Covid patient is admitted to MR Bangur Superspeciality Hospital. But such patients are occasionally turning up at the outpatient department of the hospital.
“In the last week of April, there were three Covid patients. None needed hospitalisation,” said an official of the hospital.
The 14 new Covid cases reported in West Bengal on Monday were from 5,095 samples tested across the state. Eight patients were in hospitals.
Sunday’s new infection count, 40, was based on 8,080 samples tested.
“Many people with very mild symptoms are not getting themselves tested,” he said.