New Covid strain: CM directs officials to stay alert

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee directed all concerned government officials to ensure necessary protective measures to avoid the spread of a new Covid strain that has already hit a few European countries.

Banerjee said: "The Covid situation in the state has improved. But a new strain of the virus has surfaced in some of the European countries. The UK and Italy have once again imposed lockdown. We should be on guard, instead of taking the situation casually."

This comes when at least 1,028 people tested Covid positive on Monday. The data shows that the number of cases considerably came down in the past one month as 3,315 people had tested positive on December 1 when the total number of active cases on the day was 24,221 compared to that of Monday's which stands at 13,161.

She further added that two persons have tested Covid positive after returning to the city from the UK. They came in the last flight from London before the flight services between India and the UK were suspended on December 23.

With initiatives taken by the state government, the discharge rate in Bengal has gone up to 95.85 per cent as per the state Health department's bulletin.