At a time when West Bengal is battling an outbreak of COVID-19 infections, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday announced that the “Swasthya Sathi” health scheme of the government would cover the entire population of the State.
Speaking to journalists, Ms. Banerjee said that her government planned to extend the cashless scheme where ₹5 lakh insurance is provided to every family to the entire State.
“It is a smart card and is being issued in the name of a female family member. I am announcing today that every family in West Bengal, every person, be it a child or an old man or woman, irrespective of their religious affinity, will be covered under this scheme,” she said.
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COVID-19 spread
In the past 24 hours, the State has recorded 52 deaths due to COVID-19, taking total fatalities in the State to 8,224. The State also recorded 3,507 infections in the past 24 hours, taking the total infections to 4,70,498. The discharge rate in the State increased to 93.01% and the active cases have fallen to 24,670. Kolkata and North 24 Parganas recorded 12 deaths each in the past 24 hours, taking the toll in the city to 2,553 and in the district to 1,939. In all, Kolkata has recorded 1.03 lakh COVID-19 infections, while North 24 Parganas has registered 97,000 infections.