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Bankura reports first Covid-19 death: Recovery upswing continues, but Bengal CM wary about Paschim Bardhaman

Though the statewide infection growth has slowed down noticeably in the past few weeks and recoveries have picked up, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sounded caution about the situation in Paschim Bardhaman district.

Ayushman Bharat, Ayushman Bharat west bengal, Ayushman Bharat mamata banerjee, Ayushman Bharat centre, Ayushman Bharat bengal vs centreThe Chief Minister directed the district administration to ensure that people from the Lodha and Santhal Adivasi communities are included in the “Swasthya Sathi” programme.

Four the second straight day and fourth time this month, West Bengal reported more recoveries than new cases as its discharge rate surged to 79.1 per cent. It is now 2.83 percentage points more than the approximate national recovery rate.

Though the statewide infection growth has slowed down noticeably in the past few weeks and recoveries have picked up, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sounded caution about the situation in Paschim Bardhaman district. “Almost 5.9 per cent of the district has been highly affected by Covid-19. The death rate is decreasing but we have to still bring it down,” she said.

At present, the district has 858 active cases, up from 685 at the beginning of last week. Seven deaths have occurred there in this period.

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Banerjee also accused the Centre of not sending her administration funds to bolster its efforts to contain the pandemic.

“Ever since Covid-19 started in March, we have had a lot of losses. There is no earning, but only burning and Delhi is not disbursing as many funds as they should to the states,” Banerjee told the officials of some districts at a review meeting.

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According to the state health bulletin, 2,964 new infections were detected, pushing up the case count to 1,44,801, while 58 fatalities took the toll past 2,900 to 2,909. This was the second straight day that fewer than 3,000 new cases were reported.

The epicentre in South Bengal comprising Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, and Hooghly reported just over 50 per cent of the new cases, and 43 deaths. All these districts, except Hooghly, reported a fall in the active caseload.

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The other two districts of concern in this region — Paschim and Purba Medinipur — reported three deaths. Active cases in Paschim Medinipur rose to 1,283 while Purba Medinipur saw it decline marginally to 1,360. Meanwhile, Bankura district in the Medinipur administrative region reported its first death. With this, all the 23 districts of the state have reported Covid-19 fatalities.

Up in North Bengal, the situation remained stable in Dakshin Dinajpur as its active caseload fell for the third straight day, settling at 958. Both Malda and Darjeeling reported two deaths each and an increase in active cases.

Meanwhile, Banerjee said the Rs 10-lakh insurance for frontline workers would be extended from September to November.

First uploaded on: 26-08-2020 at 06:34 IST
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