Covid-19 infections rising in Bengal, 990 new cases registered

The daily COVID-19 count in West Bengal on Thursday maintained an upward trend that began since Durga Puja celebrations with the metropolis and its neighbouring districts recording bulk of the cases, according to state Health department data.

As many as nine people died during the day, taking the coronavirus death toll in the state to 19,105, the West Bengal health bulletin said.

The state recorded 990 cases on Thursday as against 976 infections on Wednesday, it said.

The eastern state had registered 976, 806, 805, 989, and 974 new cases in the last five days.

The positivity rate decreased to 2.18 per cent on Thursday from 2.25 per cent the previous day as the number of daily tests increased from 43,322 to 45,437, it said.

Of the fresh cases, 275 were from Kolkata, followed by 164 in North 24 Parganas, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases in the state went up to 8,109 from Wednesday's 7,973, according to the bulletin.

With 845 people discharged on Thursday, the recovery rate stood at 98.29 per cent, it said.

A total of 15,62,818 patients have been discharged so far, it said, adding that the total COVID-19 cases recorded in the state were 15,90,032.

Of the fresh fatalities, two each were reported in North 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Nadia districts, the bulletin said.

Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, and Uttar Dinajpur recorded one death each, it said.

Apart from Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, the majority of the cases were recorded in adjoining districts of South 24 Parganas (77), Howrah (83), and Hooghly (75).

A total of 1,90,84,738 samples have been tested in West Bengal so far, the bulletin said.