COVID situation in Bengal deteriorates as 974 new cases, 12 fresh fatalities recorded

The COVID-19 situation in West Bengal deteriorated as 974 more people tested positive for the infection on Saturday, 128 more than the previous day, a health bulletin said.

West Bengal had registered 846 COVID-19 cases on Friday. Fresh cases surged for the fourth consecutive day after the state recently celebrated the mega event of Durga Puja.

The state's caseload rose to 15,85,466 as Kolkata registered the highest number of fresh infections at 268.

The coronavirus death toll too soared to 19,045 as 12 more patients succumbed to the infection.

Four fresh fatalities each were recorded in Kolkata and its neighbouring North 24 Parganas, while two deaths were reported in Nadia, and one each in South 24 Parganas and Hooghly.

West Bengal now has 7,731 active cases, while 15,58,690 people have been cured of the disease so far, including 808 in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said, adding that the recovery rate among the coronavirus patients in the state stood at 98.31 per cent. The state has thus far tested over 1.88 crore samples for COVID-19, including 43,159 in the last 24 hours. The administration ordered all forms of precautionary measures to combat the sudden surge in fresh COVID-19 cases, an official said. Besides taking stock of the COVID-19 situation in West Bengal during a high-level meeting at the state secretariat, Chief Secretary H K Dwivedi directed the administrations of the districts that have witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases after Durga Puja festivities to take strict measures to contain its spread.

He directed the district administrations and the civic bodies to earmark containment zones, and take strict measures regarding vehicular movement at night.

''A special directive to speed up the vaccination process was also sent from the chief secretary's end,'' he added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)