With 31 new Coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, West Bengal in India is one of the worst hit cities with the pandemic. With total cases crossing the 400 mark, Kolkata had the highest number of Covid-19 cases at 105 confirmed infections.

The state also witnessed many violations in the lockdown rules that forced the Centre had to send special teams to keep a check on the violations of the lockdown rules.

The escalating row came to an end after an exchange of angry letters between the union home secretary and the state’s chief secretary, besides a few phone calls.

The West Bengal government has said “It is not a fact” that there was no cooperation with the Central team deputed to assess the coronavirus situation in the state and gave an assurance that it will abide by all Union government orders on lockdown.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, cried foul at the Centre’s attempts to “malign the State administration” over the handling of Covid-19. The Chief Minister raised the issue of faulty kits to justify low testing numbers in Bengal while blaming the Centre for a “health hazard”.

However, the ground reality in Kolkata remains grim and sad. The state health infrastructure seems to be shaken with the Corona cases, besides the fact that the administration is not even able to handle the deadbodies.

This was evident by a recent case, where a 20-year-old succumbed to not just the deadly virus but the failure of the state administrative system. Yash Ostwal, who resided at the Howrah region of the state, experienced a heavy breathing problem on 11^th April. He called to hospitals for help, but to no avail. After getting no help even from the police, he called his uncle, who finally took him to the hospital, where he was declared brought dead!

That was not it. Yash did not find peace even after breathing his last as his body was burnt without any intimation to the family members who could not see their son even for a last time.

Yash’s other family members are also at high risk of COVID and are seeking urgent medical help.

Adjusted for a 9 crore population, Bengal’s testing per million stands at 78 (approximately). The number, critics say, continue to be low for Bengal’s size.