Wary of Covid-19 surge, doctors request Mamata Banerjee to stop crowd gathering at Durga puja pandals
By Team Newsable | First Published Oct 11, 2020, 3:01 PM ISTDoctors and health experts of Kolkata are worried about a surge in Covid-19 cases after Durga puja. On October 7, a doctors’ organisation named Joint Platform of Doctors wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, citing the case spike in Kerala and Maharashtra after Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi. The doctors urged Mamata Banerjee to implement strict measures to prevent public gatherings during Durga Puja.
Doctors and health experts of Kolkata are apprehensive about a surge in Covid-19 cases after Durga puja.
The warning comes amid a rise in the state’s active caseload in recent weeks, and a decline in the recovery rate in the past few days.
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On October 7, a doctors’ organisation named Joint Platform of Doctors wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, citing the case spikes in Kerala and Maharashtra after Onam and Ganesh Chaturthi.
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The doctors urged Mamata Banerjee to implement strict measures to prevent public gatherings during Durga Puja, warning that failure to do so might “lead to a tsunami of infections”.
With the letter, they attached the three-day rolling average of daily Covid-19 infections in Kolkata.
In the letter, it was written, “We would like to request you [Banerjee] to take necessary steps to stop gatherings at Puja pandals. And people stepping out of their homes must mandatorily wear masks. We believe, at this moment, these are the two major protocols people must follow.”
The doctors reminded the Chief Minister that Ganesh Chaturthi was a low-key affair in Maharashtra this year, while Garba has been cancelled in Gujarat. “In our state, too, Eid and Muharram were observed indoors. If we do not learn from these instances, and take precautionary measures to maintain health protocols during this Durga Puja, it can be suicidal. The situation may go out of hand leading to a tsunami of cases,” the doctors’ outfit said in its letter.
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The platform is planning to write another letter to every political organisation in the state, alerting them about the prevailing situation.
However, the state administration said adequate measures were being taken to ensure everyone’s safety.
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