COVID-19: Bengal registers highest one-day spike with 895 cases; 21 more die

West Bengal on Sunday registered the highest single-day spike of COVID-19 cases with 895 new infections, while the death toll due to the disease reached 757 after a record 21 deaths in 24 hours, the health department said.

With the new cases, the state's infection tally reached 22,126.

Out of the 21 deaths, 20 were due to comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental, the health department said in a bulletin.

Eight people each succumbed to the disease in Kolkata and its neighbouring North 24 Parganas, two in Howrah while one each in South 24 Parganas, Malda and Jalpaiguri districts, it said.

The number of active cases rose to 6,658.

Since Saturday, 545 patients recovered from the disease in the state.

So far, 14,711 people have recovered from the disease in West Bengal.

Most of the 757 people who died of coronavirus in the state are aged 75 years and above and the death rate stood at 18.55 per cent, the bulletin said.

It said that 11.52 per cent of patients who succumbed are in the age bracket of 61-75 years.

In the last 24 hours, 244 new infections were reported from the metropolis, followed by 214 from North 24 Parganas, 118 from South 24 Parganas and 111 from Howrah and 62 from Hooghly. The remaining 146 cases were reported from several other districts.

West Bengal has been breaking its record of the highest single-day spike since Friday when the 669 people tested positive. On Saturday, 743 fresh infections were reported from across the state.

In the last 24 hours, 11,016 samples have been tested in the state, the bulletin stated.