On Wednesday, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting with the Chief Ministers of 15 states, West Bengal's Mamata Banerjee opted out, choosing to hold a "grassroots-level meeting".
Speaking at Nabanna, the state secretariat, Mamata said that the State government would give incentives to those from the medical fraternity who are working on the front-lines. "Post graduation students who are working in COVID-19 area will get 10% incentive in number," Banerjee said, adding that this was a difficult area to work in.
As cases rise, the state government is attempting to increase its ability to tackle the virus. Around 5,000 trainee nurses are already involved in the fight against the virus, and Mamata said on Wednesday that they were trying to increase the house staff strength to 1800. Reportedly, under-graduate medical students in their final year would also be roped in to help, and would be awarded certificates for their role as a COVID-19 warrior. They would be working as assistants to the doctors.
"For interns and those in postgraduate training we have made a package. They will be trained and taught and would work in COVID-19 areas on a rotational basis. Those who are interning have a bond of three years. Ifthey are working in the COVID-19 areas, that will be deducted from that bond," Banerjee said.
In recent days several political leaders have tested positive for the virus. Speaking about the same, Mamata said that state fire services minister Sujit Bose was on the road to recovery.
Without taking a name, the Chief Minister however added that a West Bengal MLA was in a critical condition, even as those who had gotten the virus from him had recovered.
"I don’t know if he will survive," Mamata said, adding that the situation would not have been so serious if the MLA in question had informed earlier.
Speaking about COVID-19 cases in West Bengal, Mamata said that cases were rising at least in part due to the influx of migrant workers. While the positive rate was 2.7% at the end of May, it had now risen to 3.4%.
"We are still safe," Mamata assured, adding that the state had ramped up testing and was not testing more than 9000 people per day.
"House to house surveillance has been done for 16 crore people in Bengal. We have 2.5 crore households -- so imagine how many times each house was visited. 10,105 beds are there for COVID-19. Of these, 800 beds are still available. 8,000 doctors and 407 technicians are working," Mamata said. There are 77 COVID-19 hospitals in the state and 9,000 nurses are working, she added.
As of 16th June, the number of active positive cases was 5,386. Of the total 11909 cases recorded in the state till date, 6028 people have been discharged.
(With inputs from Prema Rajaram)
