West Bengal on Wednesday recorded a drop in new COVID-19 infections and deaths in the past 24 hours as suburban train services resumed in Kolkata and adjoining districts after seven months. Since morning, crowds thronged stations across Howrah, Sealdah and Kharagpur divisions.
The Eastern Railway operated 413 suburban trains in Sealdah division and 202 in Howrah division , while 81 trains were run in Kharagpur division of South Eastern Railway taking the total number of trains to 696.
In certain stations huge crowds could be seen at the ticket counters and passengers expressed happiness over the resumption of services. Some however, demanded more trains during peak hours. Eastern Railway officials said they are running 84% of total trains in rush hour.
People were seen wearing masks and following norms of social distancing.
The Eastern and South Eastern Railway authorities asked passengers to conform to COVID-19 safety protocols and made wearing of face masks mandatory for travel in trains or entering station premises.
3,872 new COVID-19 cases
Meanwhile, 3,872 new COVID-19 cases were recorded on Wednesday taking the total cases in the State to 4,16,984.
As many as 49 deaths in the past 24 hours took the fatalities to 7,452. This is the first time in the past several days that the average death toll in the State has fallen below 50.
The active cases in the State dropped to 32,836 and the discharge rate increased to 90.34% . The percentage of positive cases out of samples tested increased to 8.26%
