Diamond Harbour: As Bengal COVID cases spike, one suburb an exception

West Bengal has been witnessing a massive COVID-19 surge in recent weeks. The state currently has nearly 1.16 lakh active cases, low testing, and a high positivity rate – of around 31% as of January 12.

But one particular town is standing out.

The suburb, called Diamond Harbour, has a ‘country-wide’ record in daily testing for a constituency at 53,203, for positivity of only 2.5%, and for banning gatherings. 

The constituency is represented by Abhishek Banerjee, nephew of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the ruling Trinamool Congress’s No. 2. 

His approach towards the handling of the pandemic is being termed as ‘Abhishek’s COVID management’, according to a report in The Indian Express.

This is in stark contrast to the state, where pilgrims started to arrive for a Kumbh-scale Gangasagar Mela, even as COVID cases, fuelled by the omicron variant, continued to explode.

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When on the one hand, the High Court condemned the state government for refusing to scale down the Mela and conducting civic polls amidst the surge, Abhishek, on the other hand, held a meeting with officials of South 24 Parganas district to give ‘suggestions’ for his constituency. 

These included banning all political, social, and religious meetings until February 28, a control room and WhatsApp number for every panchayat, and municipality for the public, doctors on call, doctor-on-wheels facility, and strict compliance of COVID protocols, reported The Indian Express. 

The MP also suggested conducting a massive testing drive on January 12, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand. 

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Sub-Divisional Officer, Diamond Harbour, Sukanta Saha, told the newspaper, “In 20 hours that day, we collected 53,203 random samples, of which 1,151 were positive. So, the positivity rate is only 2.16%.”

While the model is being hailed by the TMC, opposition parties have said it is ‘blown out of proportion’.

Also Read: India records 2,64,202 new COVID-19 cases, omicron tally climbs to 5,753

Notably, the testing rate in Bengal remained low at 71,792 on Wednesday, with daily numbers reaching 22,155. To set things in perspective, Delhi conducted 98,832 tests while cases rose by 28,867. 

Meanwhile, India recorded 2,64,202 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s total virus caseload to 3,65,82,129, which includes 5,753 cases of the omicron variant, data from the Union Health Ministry confirmed on Friday. 

(With inputs from The Indian Express)