West Bengal: In a first, more than 2,000 cases recorded in 24 hours

Over to 70 per cent of the cases, and 23 of the deaths were recorded in Kolkata; its adjoining districts North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah; and Hooghly. These districts in South Bengal have recorded a bulk of the infections, and fatalities till date.

Two other deaths occurred in Paschim Medinipur, and one each in Dakshin Dinajpur and Alipurduar in North Bengal.

In North Bengal, Dakshin Dinajpur, where the growth rate of infection in recent weeks has alarmed state officials, 94 cases were added, followed by 85 in Malda, and 70 in Darjeeling. Kalimpong, which had an active case count of three till Friday, recorded four cases.

Meanwhile, the recovery rate remained at 58.54 per cent for the second straight day despite another record discharge. The government said 1,286 people were released from hospitals, taking the total number of recovered patients to 23,539.

According to the health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 13,465 tests were conducted in 24 hours, raising the cumulative number of tests conducted to 6,88,813. The test positivity rate increased to 5.83 per cent, the government said. The government said 140 migrant returnees and 3,806 people were still in institutional quarantine, while 29,603 people remain isolated at home. There are 558 people in safe homes.