West Bengal’s active cases dip but deaths near 10,000

State reports 823 fresh COVID-19 cases

A group of Hindu pilgrims headed for the Gangasagar pilgrimage walks past a temporary COVID-19 testing facility at a transit camp in Kolkata on Sunday.

West Bengal on Sunday reported 823 new COVID-19 cases, taking the total case tally to 5,60,709. The State has been recording less than 1,000 daily infections for the last several days. The number of active infections stands at 7,881.

As many as 19 deaths were reported, pushing the fatality tally to 9,941. The discharge rate has improved to 96.82%. The State tested 35,123 samples in the last 24 hours and the percentage of positive cases out of the samples tested has dropped to 7.53.

Of the 823 fresh infections, Kolkata recorded 231 and North 24 Parganas 226. About 83.9% (8,343) of the deceased in the State had co-morbidities and 16.1%(1598) had no co-morbidities.

There is still no clarity on holding Gangasagar festival in West Bengal. The annual festival draws lakhs of pilgrims. The Calcutta High Court has intervened in the matter and sought a report from the State government.