Bengal: Record 3,720 cases in a day, Kolkata patient count crosses 7,000

A day after reporting record Covid-19 deaths, West Bengal on Thursday again registered the highest single-day spike in cases as 3,720 infections pushed up the case count to 3,09,417. The toll rose to 5,870 following 62 fatalities.

The massive increase in daily cases over the last week and a half has dented the discharge rate, which fell to 87.77 per cent despite the recovery of 3,179 patients. The active caseload swelled to 31,984, just four days after crossing 30,000.
A bulk of the new cases, 58.54 per cent, and 45 deaths were recorded in the South Bengal infection hotspot comprising Kolkata and four nearby districts. Of the lot, the situation is the worst in Kolkata, where the active caseload crossed 7,000 on Thursday to settle at 7,106.

Nadia, meanwhile, overtook Purba Medinipur as the district with the most active cases outside the epicentre as its number of patients rose to 1,324.

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In North Bengal, the situation continued to remain alarming in Malda, which now has 850 active cases It is only surpassed by Darjeeling with 862 patients. Both Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri have over 700 active cases.

According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 42,653 tests were conducted in 24 hours. The test positivity rate, which has increased over the past several days, remained at 8.01 per cent.