'West Bengal govt trying hard to turn Covid-19 red zones into green zones': Med expert

Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, a medical expert in COVID-19 advisory panel set by state government on Sunday said that West Bengal government is trying hard to pick up red zones first and turning m into green zones. He said that idea is to bring down infectivity to 2%.

'West Bengal is following ICMR's guidelines'

" West Bengal government is trying hard. Our idea is to bring down infectivity to 2% in order to turn se red zones into green zones with two or three weeks," he said. "We have got more than 30,000 patients in-home quarantine and 3000 to 4000 people in hospital quarantine, so se are attempts we have been taking and West Bengal is following guidelines of ICMR," Mukherjee added.

He said that lockdown should never be stopped abruptly and it should be staggered. "Lockdown should never be stopped abruptly it should be staggered according to prevalence rate and measures we have been following," he said.

West Bengal government has decided to soon start rapid antibody tests to detect COVID-19 contagion, a senior official said on Sunday. state government on Sunday received a total of 10,000 kits required to conduct such rapid tests, official told PTI.

West Bengal to start rapid anti-body tests

"We have received 10,000 kits to conduct such tests... this will help us in initiating rapid antibody tests following guidelines of Indian Council of medical research (ICMR)," he said. rapid tests will be conducted at hotspots, clusters, containment zones or as a surveillance tool for epidemiological purposes in such areas where cases have t emerged so far, an advisory issued by state health department said.

number of active coronavirus cases in West Bengal to date is 198, out of which 66 persons have been discharged after treatment. According to West Bengal Health and Family Welfare Department, " number of active COVID-19 cases in State stands at 198 w. 66 persons have been discharged after treatment and 12 persons have expired due to COVID-19."

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With 1,324 fresh cases registered in last 24 hours, total number of vel coronavirus count in India crossed more than 16,000 to reach 16,116 confirmed cases so far, according to latest Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data. Along with that, country's death toll has increased to 519, it said.

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(With ncy inputs)