KOLKATA: West Bengal registered 10 more COVID-19 fatalities in the last 24 hours, raising the death toll in the state to 153, a health bulletin said on Friday.
Of them five were from the city, three from North 24 Parganas district and two from Howrah, it said.
The deaths were directly due to the novel coronavirus, the bulletin issued by the West Bengal health department said.
It said at least 84 new cases of COVID-19 infection were reported in the last 24 hours taking the total number of active cases in the state to 1,407.
In Kolkata there were 43 new cases reported during the last 24 hours while 27 were from Howrah, four each from North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas districts, the bulletin said.
Two new cases each from Purba Medinipur and Purba Burdwan districts were also reported, and one each from Hooghly and Uttar Dinajpur, it said.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state is 2,461.
During the last 24 hours 61 people were discharged taking the total number of people recovered to 829, the bulletin said.
The number of samples tested on Friday was 6,706 and a total of 69,543 samples have been examined so far, it mentioned.
Meanwhile, the district administration in Malda started swab tests of those who returned from Ajmer and Odisha and set up a quarantine centre there.
At least eight health workers at the BMRC Hospital in Barracpore tested positive for the COVID-19 following which the hospital authorities stopped admission of new patients.
As people stranded in other states are returning to the city in special trains every day, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) is setting up three new quarantine centres to cope with the surge, an official said on Friday.
A centre that can accommodate 400 people is being readied at New Town in the eastern fringes of the city, while another with a capacity to lodge 300 is coming up at Anandapur area, in the southern parts of city.
Another one that can house 200 people is being set up at Howrah.
"With rise in number of migrant labourers, patients and tourists coming back to the state in special trains and buses, we are setting up these facilities," the official said.
The largest centre being built on the premises of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory was inspected by Municipal Affairs Minister Firhad Hakim, who is also the chairman of the KMC's Board of Administrators, earlier this week.
This centre and the one at Anandapur can start functioning within a week, the official said.
The Howrah facility will be readied in 10 days.
"We may need more such facilities and search is on to find buildings."