West Bengal's COVID-19 tally nears 10,000

West Bengal on Thursday reported 440 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total to 9,768, the state health department said in its daily bulletin.Nine of the total deaths during the day happened due to co-morbidities, the health department said, adding that the state has so far witnessed 297 such fatalities. The active cases now stand at 5,338, it said.

West Bengal on Thursday reported 440 fresh cases of COVID-19, taking the total to 9,768, the state health department said in its daily bulletin. Ten people died due to the infection during the day in different districts, raising the toll to 442, it said.

Of the total fresh cases reported on Thursday, 117 were from Kolkata, it added. A doctor of the state-run Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital and a trader at the iconic New Market were among those found positive for the contagion in the metropolis, officials said.

The 19th century market and the adjoining areas in the heart of the city were sanitised, following detection of the case, they said. Besides, 67 people from North 24 Parganas were found to be positive, followed by Howrah (44) and South 24 Parganas (26), the bulletin said.

Eighteen people tested positive in Bankura, 17 in Hooghly, 13 in Nadia, nine in Paschim Bardhaman, seven in Purba Medinipore, six each in Paschim Medinipore and Murshidabad, apart from four in Birbhum, it added. In north Bengal, 106 cases were reported.

While Darjeeling recorded the maximum number of cases at 41, Jalpaiguri (34), Kalimpong (12), Malda (8), Uttar Dinajpur (5), Dakshin Dinapur (3), Coochbehar (2) and Alipurduar (1), the bulletin said. Nine of the total deaths during the day happened due to co-morbidities, the health department said, adding that the state has so far witnessed 297 such fatalities.

The active cases now stand at 5,338, it said. Since Wednesday, 209 people have been discharged from different hospitals in the state.

So far, 3,988 patients have recovered from the disease, improving the discharge rate to 40.82 per cent. The total number of tests conducted in the state crossed the three-lakh mark to reach 3,06,941, according to official figures.