Bengal logs 17,005 new cases; 157 fatalities in past 24 hours
KOLKATA: Single-day Covid infected cases dropped to 17,005 on Tuesday from what remained at 17,883 on Monday. The total infected tally has reached 13,01,978 on Tuesday. Around 157 fatalities have been reported across Bengal in the past 24 hours taking the total casualties to 14,674 so far.
Around 11,60,928 patients have already been released from the hospitals. As many as 19,057 patients have been discharged in the past 24 hours. The number of releases has outweighed the number of fresh infections on Tuesday which boosts the confidence of health officials. The Covid recovery rate on Tuesday stood at 89.17 per cent. The percentage of positive cases out of the sample tested stands at 10.80. The percentage of occupancy of Covid beds in the State dropped at 36.23 from 37.15 on Monday. Besides Covid, Mucormycosis has become a concern for the Health department as the number of mucormycosis cases reached 12 on Tuesday. One new suspected case was reported on Tuesday. It has been found at a private hospital in Cooch Behar. State health department has already decided to announce IPGMER & SSKM as the Apex hub for mucormycosis and the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital and BS Medical College and Hospital will function as regional hubs for the management of Mucormycosis cases. The Health department proposed to form a multidisciplinary team at the hospitals with a microbiologist/pathologist/radio diagnosis expert, internal medicine specialist, ENT specialist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, dental surgeon, maxillofacial surgeon and endocrinologist in the team.
Meanwhile, the state Health department on Tuesday conducted vaccinations on 1,50,541 people across the state. Bengal has so far carried out 1,34,88,022 lakh vaccination marks till Tuesday. On Monday, about 1,96,133 people were vaccinated in the state. No adverse effects following immunization (AEFI) were reported on Tuesday. According to the Health department figure, 1,10,438 were administered the first dose and 8,090 were administered the second dose. About 3,01,521 people have been vaccinated in the age group 18-45 and also in priority groups. Incidentally, Kolkata has registered 33 Covid deaths on Tuesday while North 24-Parganas has seen 46 deaths in the past 24 hours. South 24-Parganas has reported 10 deaths on Tuesday, Howrah 8, Hooghly 4, West Burdwan 6, West Midnapore 5, Bankura 10, Purulia 2, Birbhum 5, Nadia 2, Murshidabad 2, South Dinajpur 1, North Dinajpur 2, Jalpaiguri 14, Darjeeling 6. Kolkata in the past 24 hours has registered 2,979 fresh cases and North 24-Parganas 3,452. The total death toll in Kolkata has so far reached 4,259 whereas North 24-Parganas has lost 3,679 people so far.
In another development, state Panchayats minister Subrata Mukherjee was released from the SSKM Hospital. He would be put under house arrest as per the order of the Calcutta High Court. Kamarhati MLA Madan Mitra is still undergoing treatment at the hospital.
