7 more COVID-19 fatalities push West Bengal death toll to 160

Seven people succumbed to COVID-19 in West Bengal taking the total number of deaths directly due to the disease to 160, state home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said on Saturday. At least 115 new cases of coronavirus were reported during the same period taking the total number of confirmed cases to 2,576, he said, adding that there are at the moment 1,452 active cases in the state. Of the seven deaths, three each were reported from the city and neighbouring Howrah and one from South 24 Parganas district, bulletin of the state health department released later stated. It also elaborated that 65 people from the metropolis tested positive for the COVID-19. At least 17 people from Howrah, 15 from North 24 Parganas and 10 and 6 from Hooghly and Malda districts respectively tested positive for the disease, the bulletin added. There were 7,745 samples tested on Friday and the total number of such tests is 77,288, he added. Bandyopadhyay said that the positivity rate in the state is at 3.33 per cent, better than the national figure. Since Friday evening, 63 people have been discharged from different hospitals after they recovered from the disease taking the total number of such people to 892. There were 72 more deaths due to comorbidities where coronavirus were incidental, he added

Meanwhile, three women patients at the Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital on Saturday tested positive after giving birth, hospital sources said.