Noted virologist Dr Amitabha Nandy, who also was a former consultant at the World Health Organisation (WHO), has levelled serious allegations against the West Bengal Government.
West Bengal government has failed miserably to control the spread of Covid-19, because the entire approach to contain the pandemic has been hijacked from scientific community, he said yesterday while talking to a news agency.
Questioning the West Bengal government’s approach, he said imposition of complete lockdown twice a week till August would be of no help.
His assertions, however, were rebuffed by senior TMC leader and Rajya Sabha MP Santanu Sen, who claimed that the “unplanned approach” of the Centre towards the pandemic was to blame for the spike in coronavirus cases across the nation.
According to Dr Nandy, community transmission of COVID-19 had started in Bengal way back in early-April and matters have only gotten worse primarily due to the “bizarre attitude” of the implementing agencies and the citizens.
However, the virologist blamed the state government for the “current disastrous situation”.
Health infrastructure, including private and government-owned, is in poor states, and unable to respond to the crisis, because the state government is not guided by the advices of scientific community, said the noted virologist.
Several auxiliary factors such as inadequate diagnostic facilities, improper hospitalisation criteria and senior doctors withholding themselves from health services have added to the woes of patients, he stated.
Citing two examples from early April, where a fast- food seller in the city apparently died of COVID-19, and another ambulance owner reportedly contracted the virus during the course of his duty, Dr Nandy said,
The disease control programme in Bengal lacks scientific justification, he asserted.
“The decision to impose lockdown two days a week may not be beneficial to us, going by the past record. It seems to be a mere eyewash,” he said.
Ideal mechanism of controlling this disease
According to him, the state government should have developed a scientifically valid epidemic control strategy based on a parallel and ongoing research in the field of epidemiology, disease control, case detection and management of COVID-19.
It should have formulated strategies based on the result of ongoing research with provision of mid-course flexibilities (changes), depending on the results of such studies.
Professionals involved in the healthcare sector should have appropriate knowledge about the definition of cure and biological/genetic interpretation of the results of RTPCR.
A mere positive result in RTPCR does not indicate the infectivity of the genome vis- a-vis patient.
Even the RTPCR is not 100 per cent sensitive to declare an individual free of the virus in a negative result.
Rush to come out with a vaccine
The virologist was also critical about the rush to come out with a vaccine to combat Covid-19, and stressed on the need to invent a drug to control the menace. Even if a vaccine is discovered, “it would be difficult to demonstrate its protective efficacy” until and unless transmission ceases. “Right now emphasis needs to be given on developing an anti-viral drug to save millions who are in critical stages, while simultaneously keeping the ongoing vaccine research intact. We should also give importance to more and more personal protective measures and effective community education and practice,” he added.
