Bengal witnesses 18,863 Covid cases in a single day

Kolkata: The single-day Covid infected cases dropped to 18,863 on Saturday from 19,847 on Friday. The total infected tally reached 12,48,668 on Saturday. Around 154 people died in Bengal in the past 24 hours with the total tally touching 14,208 so far in the state.

Around 11,02,772 patients have already been released from hospitals. As many as 19,202 patients have been discharged in the past 24 hours. The Covid recovery rate on Saturday stood at 88.32 per cent. The percentage of positive cases out of the samples tested stands at 10.53. The percentage of occupancy of Covid beds in the state reached 37.58 on Saturday.

The state Health department on Saturday conducted vaccinations on 79,163 people. Bengal has so far carried out 1,30,85,350 lakh vaccinations till Saturday. On Friday, around 71,568 people were vaccinated in the state. No adverse effects following immunisation (AEFI) were reported on Friday.

The state government has already prepared a list of super spreaders which includes journalists, transport workers, hawkers. The state government also decided to start the vaccination drive among bank employees. State Food and Supply minister Rathin Ghosh who himself was infected with Covid and later recovered, has taken the initiative to start vaccination among employees of his department and FPS dealers and their staff on urgent basis. Vaccination was conducted among 109 FPS dealers and one staff from each centre at Bowbazar, Park Street and Beliaghata. All inspectors were deployed to maintain queues and identify the FPS dealers and their staff. The staff of the Food and Supply department expressed gratitude to the newly elected minister for expediting the vaccination drive.

Meanwhile, a 40-bed Safe Home was reopened at Madhyamgram by the Food and Supply minister who is a local MLA. Doctors and nurses will be deployed at the Safe Home round-the-clock. Ambulance facility is also there. If any patient requires hospital admission, he will be shifted to the Barasat District Hospital. Nusrat Jahan, Basirhat MP, started a Safe Home at Bhyabla Polytechnic College in Basirhat.

Kolkata registered 41 deaths on Saturday while North 24-Parganas saw 43 fatalities. South 24-Parganas reported six deaths, Howrah 10, Hooghly 7, West Burdwan 4, East Burdwan 1, East Midnapore 1, West Midnapore 4, Bankura 6, Purulia 1, Purulia 2, Birbhum 6, Nadia 8, Murshidabad 7, South Dinajpur 4, Jalpaiguri 8, Darjeeling 1.

Kolkata in the past 24 hours registered 3,280 fresh cases and North 24-Parganas 3,876. The total death toll in Kolkata has so far reached 4,145 whereas North 24-Parganas has lost 3,540 people so far. The tally of infected patients in Kolkata has gone up to 2,75,677 while North 24-Parganas has so far seen a total of 2,66,864. South 24-Parganas witnessed 1,222 new Covid cases in the past 24 hours.