Mamata fudging Covid-19 data in Bengal (005) - says faulty Covid-19 testing kits from the center was the cause of low test figures

Since the IMCT’s arrival, West Bengal appears to be reporting more cases of Covid-19. 

For instance, according to the health bulletin issued 17 April, 2020 the total number of active cases was 162. On 20 April, the figure was 245, a rise just under than 100. Four days later, on 24 April, the state reported 385 active cases, an increase of 140. 

Testing has also picked up. While 4,212 samples had been tested by 17 April, the number was 5,469 by 20 April and 8,933 by 24 April. The average per-day testing figures have shot up to 943 from 240.

Addressing the media on Thursday, 2020-04-23  Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee weighed in on the discrepancy. She said the central government was either sending faulty kits or withdrawing the ones sent, adding that testing had picked up because the state was procuring kits on its own. 

The IMCT’s letters Friday also raise questions about the state’s testing and reporting patterns, besides some “infrastructural issues” at local hospitals.

However, the Trinamool Congress sought to defend its handling of the crisis. 

“The problem surfaced here as the Centre sent us all faulty kits. We could not conduct the required number of tests as we did not have kits,” Santanu Sen, a Trinamool Congress MP and former member of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) said.  

Source: The Print, article by Ms Madhuparna Das.