West Bengal govt worried about possible Covid-19 spike during Durga Puja

West Bengal government is concerned that Covid-19 cases in the state may rocket during Durga Puja as there are large crowds on the streets and inside pandals. Health Department sources said that they are particularly worried about people in the age group of 20 to 40 years as they may become potential super spreaders.

Elaborating further a Health Department official said that they had noticed people belonging to this age group rarely wearing masks properly neither were they abiding by social distancing protocols.

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“These people may not themselves get severely sick but others including their family members may get infected from them. Elderly people and those with comorbidities will be particularly at risk in such a scenario,” the official said.

Health Department sources further revealed that it was unfortunate despite large-scale awareness campaigns by the state government on the necessity of wearing masks to stop the spread of the virus a significant number of people were behaving in a reckless manner.

Their concern becomes evident if one looks at the marketing hubs in the city such as Esplanade in Central Kolkata and Gariahat in South Kolkata. Packed streets and people jostling with each other and most of them are not wearing masks properly. Durga Puja will begin on October 22.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on October 9

After staying below the 2000-mark for about a week the Covid-19 cases in the state are showing a sharp spike with cases inching closer towards the 4000-mark. Bengal recorded the highest single-day spike on Thursday with 3526 fresh cases in 24 hours. The total death toll in the state has reached 5439 as of Thursday and the daily fatalities have been hovering between 55 to 65. Bengal has recorded 249737 Covid-19 cases as of Thursday.

With the number of cases increasing as Durga Puja draws closer the state government is concerned about crowd management during the festive season.

Although the state government has provided an elaborate guideline to ensure social distancing during Durga Puja including making masks mandatory inside pandals and making pandals as much open as possible crowd management during the time has always been a challenge. Nearly 37,000 Durga Pujas are organised in West Bengal.