West Bengal: Sharp drop in active Covid cases continues

According to the state health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, 53 deaths occurred in 24 hours, taking the death toll to 7,714. Among those dead was a Kolkata Police officer, whose death took the toll in the force up to 11, officials said.

Manab Bandyopadhyay, a sub-inspector in the Special Branch, was recently hospitalised after being diagnosed with the disease, said a senior police officer. Bandyopadhyay, who was in his early forties, died in the hospital in the morning, he said.

“We deeply mourn the untimely demise of Sub-Inspector Manab Bandopadhyay, who was posted in the Special Branch. He was affected with Covid-19 and was at the forefront of our fight against corona,” the Kolkata Police tweeted.

Meanwhile, Kolkata and its adjacent districts continued to report a major share in the caseload. On Monday, the capital city again topped in terms of caseload. As many as 728 persons tested positive in Kolkata, 718 tested positive in North 24 Parganas, 190 tested positive in Hooghly, 185 tested positive in South 24 Parganas and 119 tested positive in Howrah. Though the recovery rate has brought down active cases in both Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, which are the heart of the pandemic’s epicentre in the state, they still remain over 7,000.

Other than these five districts in South Bengal, 197 tested positive in Nadia, 71 tested positive in Paschim Medinipur and 66 tested positive in Purba Bardhaman.

In North Bengal, Jalpaiguri recorded 163 Covid cases in 24 hours, Darjeeling recorded 136 and Dakshin Dinajpur recorded 46 cases. The health bulletin said 38,127 samples were tested in 24 hours, taking the cumulative number of tests conducted to 52,56,924.

According to the health department, 94,136 persons are still in home quarantine, while 1,081 people are in safe homes.

– With PTI inputs