Record 22 fatalities push COVID-19 death toll in West Bengal to 779

Of them, 10 were from Kolkata, seven from North 24 Parganas, three from Nadia, and one each from South 24 Parganas and Purba Barddhaman districts, it said. The number of active cases in the state is now 6,973.

The death toll due to COVID-19 in West Bengal mounted to 779 on Monday with a record 22 fatalities in a day, the health department said. As many as 861 people have tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours, taking the infection tally in the state to 22,987, the department said in its bulletin.

"These 22 people died due to comorbidities and COVID- 19 in these cases was incidental," the department said. Of them, 10 were from Kolkata, seven from North 24 Parganas, three from Nadia, and one each from South 24 Parganas and Purba Barddhaman districts, it said.

The number of active cases in the state is now 6,973. Since Sunday evening, 524 patients have been discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of people recovering from the disease to 15,235. The metropolis registered the highest number of 281 fresh infections since Sunday evening, while North 24 Parganas reported 181 cases, Howrah 97 and South 24 Parganas 84. The remaining 218 cases were recorded in several other districts.

During the same period, 10,919 samples have been examined for COVID-19, the bulletin added. Meanwhile, Siliguri Corporation Mayor and veteran CPI (M) leader Ashok Bhattacharya, who was afflicted with COVID-19, returned home on Monday after recovering from the disease.

"I am happy to be back home. I thank the doctors and the nurses for treating me so well," Bhattacharya said. Meanwhile, 10 health workers at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata tested positive for the disease and were placed under quarantine, health department sources said.