COVID-19 deaths in West Bengal cross 900

State records highest single-day spurt of 1,344 cases; recovery rate down to 63.11%

July 12, 2020 02:42 am | Updated 02:43 am IST - Kolkata

Making preparations: A worker sanitises the Eden Garden stadium, which will be converted into a COVID-19 care centre for police personnel, in Kolkata on Saturday.

Making preparations: A worker sanitises the Eden Garden stadium, which will be converted into a COVID-19 care centre for police personnel, in Kolkata on Saturday.

West Bengal on Saturday recorded 26 more deaths due to COVID-19 taking the number of casualties to 906. The State recorded yet another highest single-day spike of 1,344 cases in 24 hours, taking the tally to 28,453.

The active cases rose to 9,558. Of the 26 deaths, 16 were recorded in Kolkata alone, five in the North 24 Parganas, four in Howrah and one in the South 24 Parganas. With the fresh spurt, the recovery rate also dropped to 63.11%.

Delays in last rites

Reports of bodies not being handed over to families and delay in conducting the last rites of the deceased also came from Kolkata and adjoining districts.

The Kolkata police have requested the authorities of the Cricket Association of Bengal to allow the Eden Gardens as a makeshift quarantine centre.

“The police are in an urgent need of a large accommodation for setting up a makeshift quarantine centre for the personnel with immediate effect,” a letter by Joint Commissioner (Headquarters) Supratim Sarkar to Abhishek Dalmiya, president of CAB, said.

In the letter dated July 10, the police have sought the gallery of blocks E, F, G H and J. They held a meeting with the CAB officials and visited the iconic grounds. The CAB authorities have allowed the police to use the galleries. With the infections spreading at a rapid pace, even police personnel are getting infection. There were reports of several personnel testing positive at Kasba station.

Minister’s wife infected

Earlier in the day, Minister and former cricketer Lakshmi Ratan Shukla took to twitter saying his wife Smita Sanyal Shukla has tested positive. Ms. Shukla is also a Deputy Secretary of the Health Department. Tollywood actor Koel Mullick and her father actor Ranjit Mullick have also tested positive.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.