West Bengal is 8th state to breach 10,000 mark

The case count rose to 10,244 even as the state health department said the toll climbed to 451 with nine more deaths. Four of the deaths were reported from Kolkata, two from Hooghly and one each from Howrah, South 24 Parganas, and Nadia.

Of the new positive cases, 111 were detected in Kolkata, followed by 99 in North 24 Parganas, 52 in Howrah, and 30 each in Paschim Medinipur and Jalpaiguri districts.

The government, meanwhile, stepped up precautionary measures at “Nabanna” after two drivers working for senior officials tested positive on Thursday. One of them drives the vehicle of a joint secretary-level officer posted in the finance department, while the other person works for a senior police officer. Last week, the drivers of two CMO officials had tested positive.

“Now, the joint secretary-level officer has met several people during all these days. We have to identify them and sent them to isolation. Thier contacts, including officials, have been directed to go for isolation,” said a highly placed source.

The officials have been asked to isolate themselves at home while the drivers have been sent for treatment.

“As part of the precautionary measures, entry to the chamber of the Chief Minister was restricted even to senior officers,” the source said.

According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 218 people were discharged from hospitals in 24 hours, pushing up the number of discharged patients to 4,206. The active case count increased to 5,587.

The government said 8,758 samples were tested in a day. The test positivity rate rose to 3.24%. Meanwhile, a senior government official said the number of Covid-19 containment zones in the state had increased from 700 a week ago to 1,907 following a change in the policy for identifying such territories. As a result, the number of buffer zones have also increased.

According to the amended rules, the administration, instead of earmarking an entire locality, is identifying houses or housing complexes, a slum, or a specific part of the road or lane where a case is registered. WITH PTI