COVID-19 in Bengal: expert committee says ventilators not required for most cases, no reason to worry

Dr. Avijit Chaudhury – who is part of the state government’s expert team for COVID-19 – on Saturday said that there’s no reason to panic if one gets tested positive. He said that most of the COVID-19 patients are undergoing “spontaneous recovery with supportive care” and minimum application of medicines was needed in treating these patients.

Only two out of the 24 COVID-19 patients currently admitted at Beliagahta Infectious Diseases (ID) Hospital had some complications as they had a significant number of co-morbidities, he added.

He said that people should not feel that ventilators are essential for treating COVID-19 and that one would die if the number is not enough in hospitals. Ventilators are only needed for those patients who are already suffering from various serious ailments.

The number of active Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in West Bengal is 49 at present, state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said. At a press conference in Nabanna, the state administrative headquarters, Sinha said that 11 new COVID-19 cases were detected in the last 24 hours. Out of the 49 active cases, six are from the same family in Kalimpong.

Eighty-four quarantine centres had been opened in last 24 hours. The number of quarantine centres operating at present in the state is 516.

Sinha announced that hotspots for COVID-19 are being identified in the state based on the travel histories of persons in that area or the sudden spike of new cases from an area. If people in an area start developing symptoms which are similar to that of COVID-19 then that area too is being considered to be included in the list of hotspots, he said.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 in the state currently stands at three. An audit committee has been formed who will probe into the deaths of four persons who had tested COVID-19 positive after their death to examine whether they actually died due to COVID-19, Sinha added. Out of the 24 COVID-19 patients in Beliaghata ID, nine have recovered. Four of them are being released today and five others will be released later.