COVID-19: Doctors fear severe second wave outbreak in West Bengal

BJP supporters attend a rally by party chief J P Nadda in Hooghly district on Wednesday. Pic/PTI

With elections in West Bengal, doctors in the state fear the state is staring at a second wave of severe COVID-19 outbreak.

The state is in the middle of assembly elections. Doctors fear that political rallies that are daily affairs before elections and the frequent flouting of COVID-19 protocols in these events could lead to steep rise in infection numbers of the state. Doctors in Kolkata fear that if protocols continue to be flouted, infections could go back to the 2020 levels.

Sanjib Bandyopadhyay, in-charge of the post-COVID follow-up clinic at the Infectious Diseases and Beliaghata General (ID&BG) Hospital, which was a designated COVID-19 hospital, foresees a "severe outbreak" of contagion the state in the near future.

Bandopadhyay said chances of virus transmission are higher in rallies because more droplets come out from the mouths of leaders when they address rallies and people surrounding him shout slogans - most of them without masks. This puts people near them to risk, he said. "It is quite a risky situation."

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