Bengal: Recovery brings down active cases below 35K

West Bengal’s Covid-19 recovery rate continued to climb on Sunday as it rose to 89.67 per cent after a record 4,383 patients were declared recovered.

The state added 3,920 new cases, but its active caseload dropped to 34,566 on account of the recovery surge. However, in a worrying sign, active cases continued to rise in Kolkata (7,497) and North 24 Parganas (7,151) in the heart of the pandemic epicentre in South Bengal. The infection hotspot reported almost 60 per cent of the latest infections and 40 of the 59 deaths statewide that pushed up the toll to 7,294.

The recovery surge drove down active cases in the other South Bengal districts outside the epicentre with over a thousand patients — Purba Medinipur (1,426), Paschim Medinipur (1,649), and Nadia (1,655).

However, Purba Bardhaman and Paschim Bardhaman made the major gains. At the end of last week, they had active caseloads of 1,177 and 1,227. On Sunday, Purba Bardhaman had 702 patients and 962 in its neighbouring district.