State reports 2,486 new Covid cases, 55 deaths

Kolkata: Single-day Covid infection in Bengal dropped to 2,486 on Saturday from what remained at 2,788 on Friday. The total number of infected cases has therefore gone up to 14,79,523 Covid cases till Saturday.

Around 2,109 Covid patients have been released from various hospitals in the past 24 hours. Around 14,39,215 patients have so far been discharged from the hospitals after being cured. Number of fatalities dropped to 55 on Saturday from 58 on Friday. The total tally of fatalities in the state reached 17,295. The number of active cases remained at 23,013 on Saturday.

In another development, around 19 patients were found positive with swine flu in the city in last 45 days out of which around 12 patients have been released from the hospitals. Around 7 are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the city. All the patients are adults. No fatality has been reported so far.

Covid recovery rate stood at 97.28 percent. The percentage of positive cases out of the sample tested remained at 4.68 on Saturday. The percentage of occupancy of Covid beds in the State stood at 11.92. Bengal has so far conducted 1,36,31,865 Covid sample tests so far with around 53,117 samples being tested in the past 24 hours.

The state has so far vaccinated 1,89,31,993 people out of which around 2,74,004 people were vaccinated in the past 24 hours. No adverse effects following immunization (AEFI) were reported on Friday. The Bengal government has already conducted vaccinations on 20,97,285 people so far in the state which include those belonging in the age group 18-45 years and also those who have been identified as super-spreaders by the state government.

Meanwhile, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital, Kolkata administered the first doses of the much-awaited Sputnik V vaccine on Saturday. Twelve beneficiaries got the jab. The price of one dose of Sputnik V at Woodlands would be Rs 1,145. "We have received a very small consignment of Sputnik V for now. So, we have not put it on CoWIN but we have spread the word in our doctors' groups and among our staff, all of whom have themselves been vaccinated already with Covishield or Coviaxin. People, who are coming to know of the availability of Sputnik V are calling the hospital and are being asked to come over for the shot after registration on CoWIN," Dr Rupali Basu, Managing Director, Woodlands Multispeciality Hospital.