West Bengal reported a set of grim numbers with 144 people dying on a 24-hr-basis due to Covid-19, as per the health bulletin released by the state health department.

This incidentally is a record high death number here, beating the previous 136 deaths reported on Friday.

Fresh infections, however, saw a substantial dip, falling to 19,511 on Saturday. This came on the back of reduced testing. From a record high number of tests to the tune of nearly 71,000, daily testing dropped to approximately 66,600 as per Saturday’s health bulletin.

The test positive rate in the state, however, remained over 29 per cent, indicating that approximately one out of every three persons being tested was Covid positive.

Active cases hovered close to the 1,32,000 mark. Addition in active cases on a 24 hour basis was amongst the lowest in recent times, by merely 156, because of high discharges (of over 19,200 people) and deaths.

Kolkata and North 24 Parganas were the worst hit districts reporting approximately 4,000 and 4,300 fresh cases, respectively. The two districts together account for over 40 per cent of the fresh infections in the state (and nearly 45 per cent of the total deaths).

Howrah, Hooghly and South 24 Parganas - three districts close to the state capital of Kolkata - continued to witness a rise in fresh infections.

Published on May 15, 2021