Chief secretary H.K. Dwivedi will hold a meeting with health officials of the state and all districts on Wednesday afternoon to review and scan the Covid-19 situation and its preparedness across Bengal in the backdrop of the Union health ministry’s note on the rising number of cases in a few countries, especially China.

“The meeting has been called on an emergency basis. All state health officials will be present at Nabanna and health heads of districts will be connected virtually. The meeting is important as the state government may issue directives related to preparedness and Covid-appropriate behaviour. The state government is not taking the note from the Centre lightly,” said a senior health official in Calcutta.

Bengal reported only eight fresh cases and six recoveries on Tuesday. The case positivity rate was 0.18 per cent among 4,398 samples tested across Bengal.

“However, we don’t want to take any risk as no one can predict what lies ahead. We want to take all precautionary measures,” the health official added.

Sources said that although the directive to use masks hasn’t been withdrawn, people are not masking up in public and mass gatherings.

A government doctor said most people visiting hospitals were not wearing masks.

“People have already lost the habit of wearing masks in crowded places. The rush during Christmas has opened our eyes. People will celebrate New Year soon and there should be some restrictions like masks. However, there is no plan to force any restriction that would hurt the festive mood,” the doctor said.

Some health officials are worried about the low rate of vaccination, especially the booster dose.

“Only 27 per cent of people in Bengal have taken the booster dose when 92 and 87 per cent of people in the state got vaccinated with first and second doses, respectively. Most of those who took booster doses are health workers,” said a senior health official.

“However, the demand for vaccines has increased a bit after the new threat (of the new Covid variant) has emerged,” he added.

In 44 medical colleges and super-specialty hospitals in Calcutta and the districts, mock drills were held on Tuesday to check the infrastructure in Covid wards.