Community spread has begun, says Mamata

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said community spreading of Covid has begun.

While addressing a rally at Gandhi Statue on Mayo Road to condemn the rape of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, she said two of her close associates at her home have been infected with the disease.

"The youth, who gives me a cup of tea when I return home, also got infected with the disease. Similarly, another youth who works at my office also has Covid. They never went out or mixed with people as such without taking proper precautions. When they have been affected, it shows that the disease has spread in the community," she said.

The Chief Minister recalled the death of three of her party MLAs and said one of the ministers is now suffering from the disease. "Despite the Covid pandemic, we are working for the people without remaining indoors, unlike many others. In many states, the leadership never went out of their homes and made statements on social media. But here we are attending office every day for the past six months risking heavy exposure to the disease," she added.

Bengal has so far carried out 33,55,726 Covid tests out of which 41,128 samples have been tested in the past 24 hours. The percentage of positive cases out of samples tested stands at 7.96 on Saturday. Positivity rate is gradually going down that signifies that the infection rate in the state is on the decline.

As many as 2,34,712 Covid patients in Bengal have recovered from the disease so far out of the total infected patients of around 2,66,974 till Saturday. The recovery rate of Covid patients has gone up to 87.92 per cent which is the highest so far.

Around 3,340 new Covid cases have been found in the past 24 hours. Around 3,013 patients have been released from various hospitals on Saturday after recovery. Bengal witnessed 62 Covid deaths in the past 24 hours. The total death toll so far in the state has reached 5,132. Kolkata has witnessed 631 new Covid cases. As many as 13 people died in the city in the past 24 hours. The total number of infected patients in Kolkata has so far reached 58,432 on Saturday.

North 24-Parganas saw 641 new cases on Saturday while the total number of cases so far reached 53,441. North 24-Parganas has seen 19 deaths in the past 24 hours.