Bengal Covid numbers: Second straight day of 62 deaths

Almost 53 per cent of the latest cases, and 34 deaths were reported from the South Bengal epicentre comprising Kolkata; its adjoining districts North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Howrah; and Hooghly. With 12 fatalities, North 24 Parganas became the second district after Kolkata where the toll touched 1,000.

It was a mixed bag in the Medinipur districts, both of which reported declines in their active caseloads and 10 deaths in total. In Paschim Medinipur, the recovery of 231 patients brought down the active caseload to 1,559.

The situation is also worrying in Bankura district, which has reported 277 cases in two days. On Tuesday, it had 786 active cases. Nadia district, adjoining the South Bengal hotspot, also has over 800 active cases. In the past two days, it has reported 230 cases and five deaths. Last week, it had recorded 749 infections and eight fatalities.

In North Bengal, there were eight deaths while the number of patients in Malda decreased to 605. This was the first decline in the active caseload in the district since it had dropped to 260 on September 8.

In all, five districts in the region still have over 600 active cases — Alipurduar, Coochbehar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Malda.

The state health department said in 24 hours 45,447 tests were conducted. The test positivity ratio fell marginally to 8.04 per cent.

According to the government, 2,453 people are still in government quarantine, while 76,812 people remain at home. There are 1,422 people in safe homes.