West Bengal CPI(M) demands more COVID-19 tests

Demanding a considerableincrease in tests to determine the spread of COVID-19 in West Bengal, CPI(M) leader Surjyakanta Mishra on Sunday accused the state government of lack of transparency in declaring the number of dead and affected people.Claiming that West Bengal was conducting much lesser number of tests compared to several other states in the country, the CPI(M) state secretary said that both Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and rapid tests must be done of people in large numbers to determine how much the disease is actually spreading in the state."Even the expert committee formed by the state government has also advocated extensive tests to bring a larger percentage of the population under the scanner," he said at a press conference through social media from the CPI(M) party headquarter here.While holding that Kerala has done an exemplary job in dealing with COVID-19, Mishra said that West Bengal has done much fewer tests of people than many other states."There should also be transparency in declaration of the figures since people should know how many persons have been inflicted with the disease and also from which places and districts they hail so that the general public can be more cautious in those areas," he said.Questioning the figures of dead and affected persons given by the state government, the CPI(M) leader said that the numbers given by the state government and those available from other sources are varying a lot.The West Bengal government has declared that five persons have so far died of COVID-19, while holding that in case of comorbidity along with coronavirus infliction, a state-appointed committee would ascertain the reason for such death."Comorbidity means a person may have had other diseases, but if he or she was found to have coronavirus, then it must be declared that the person died of the virus," he asserted.Mishra said that it is already an established fact that if a person has diabetes, high pressure or asthma, then there is a higher risk of fatality if he or she is inflicted with the coronavirus.Claiming that there are signs of community transmission of the disease, he said that the government must be more careful and take steps to stem it.He said that widespread rapid testing must be done to identify areas where the disease has been occurring more.Mishra said that the poor people and workers in the unorganised sector are suffering due to the lockdown."Each of these people should be given Rs 5,000 in their Jandhan accounts by the Centre along with free ration during the lockdown period so that no one dies of starvation," he said.Mishra also claimed that attempts were being made from some sections to spread the virus of communalism over the Nizamuddin congregation issue, while questioning what the Union Home Ministry was doing when permission was given for holding the meet.

West Bengal CPI(M) demands more COVID-19 tests

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