Highest single-day spike of 396 COVID-19 cases in Bengal; 10 more die of disease

West Bengal registered the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Tuesday with 396 people testing positive for the disease in the last 24 hours, the state health department said.

Ten persons died due to the disease since Monday evening, raising the death toll in the state to 263, it said.

Eight deaths were reported from Kolkata and one each from Birbhum and North 24 Parganas districts.

The tally of coronavirus cases rose to 5,772 in the state, while the number of active cases stood at 3,423, the department said in its daily bulletin.

The state government maintained that 72 coronavirus-infected patients died due to co-morbidities, and COVID-19 in those cases was "incidental".

Of the 396 fresh cases, 116 are from the metropolis.

North 24 Parganas and Howrah accounted for 74 and 49 new cases respectively, the bulletin said.

"Many returnees have tested positive for COVID-19 in Kolkata as well as in the districts," a senior health official said.

At least 104 coronavirus patients were discharged from various hospitals since Monday, taking the number of recoveries in the state to 22,410, the bulletin said.