Even as the growth of Covid-19 cases stabilises in West Bengal, with fresh cases hovering around the 19,000-mark, deaths continue to rise.

On Thursday, Bengal saw a record number of Covid-19 related deaths of 162, breaching the previous high of 157.

Fresh cases stood at 19,091, while discharges/recoveries were around 19,000.

Test positivity rate

Daily testing shot up over the 70,000-mark as the test positivity rate stood at a little over 27 per cent. Test positivity rate indicates the number of people infected per 100 tests.

The positivity rate had shot up to nearly 33 per cent as new cases (on a 24 hour basis) had breached the 20,000-mark. This coupled with increasing pressure on the already stretched health infra had forced the state government to announce a complete lockdown.

Among the districts, Kolkata has witnessed a slight drop in the growth of new cases and had fallen below 3,500.

As per the state health department's bulletin, Kolkata reported 3,461 fresh infections, while recoveries were close to 3,750. Active cases fell by a little over 300 to 25,492. Deaths continue to be on the higher side, with 36 succumbing to Covid.

The state's epicentre has now shifted to the adjoining district of North 24 Parganas, the worst hit. Fresh cases here daily continue to hover around 4,000, while deaths are amongst the highest. The district reported 3,934 fresh cases and 37 deaths on May 20. Active cases are over 27,000.

New infection growth is again being witnessed in districts neighbouring Kolkata, which include South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly. In addition, Nadia is also witnessing a rise in cases. In each of these districts, daily new Covid cases being reported is between 1,000 and 1,300.

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