Bengal logs 4,512 new COVID-19 cases, 9 fresh fatalities

West Bengal, which is witnessing a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases for the last few days, on Saturday reported 4,512 fresh infections, 1,061 more than the previous day, with Kolkata accounting for 2,398 fresh cases, a health bulletin said.

West Bengal had on Friday registered 3,451 cases, with the metropolis recording 1,954 infections. The state's caseload rose to 16,42,997.

Nine more patients succumbed to the infection on Saturday. Seven people had died on the previous day. The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 19,773.

Of the nine fresh fatalities, two each were reported in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas.

The state's positivity rate rose to 12.02 per cent from 8.46 per cent on the previous day, while the number of daily tests went down from 40,813 to 37,542, it said.

After Kolkata, North 24 Parganas registered the second-highest number of 688 new cases, up from 496 on the previous day, the bulletin said.

Apart from Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, other districts that recorded a high number of cases are Howrah (344), South 24 Parganas (198) and Hooghly (165), it said.

The recovery rate stood at 97.99 per cent as 1,913 more people were cured of the disease. The state now has 13,300 active cases, while 16,09,924 people have recovered from the disease to date.

The state has thus far tested over 2,14,29,414 samples for COVID-19, the bulletin added.