Bengal logs 19,064 new Covid cases, 39 fresh fatalities

West Bengal's Covid tally rose to 18,82,761 on Saturday as 19,064 more people tested positive for the infection, 3,581 less than the previous day, a health bulletin said.

The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 20,052 as 39 more patients succumbed to the infection, the highest single-day toll since the recent surge in Covid cases, it said.

West Bengal's positivity rate slightly improved to 29.52 per cent from 31.14 per cent on the previous day, the bulletin said.

Kolkata recorded 4,831 new cases, 2,036 less than the previous day, followed by 3,496 infections in neighbouring North 24 Parganas district, it said.

The metropolis registered the highest number of fresh fatalities at 12, followed by 10 in North 24 Parganas, it said.

The number of active cases increased by 9,893 to 1,55,376, while 9,132 more people recovered from the disease, but the discharge rate deteriorated to 90.68 per cent. A total of 17,07,333 people have recovered from the disease so far.

The state has tested over 2.22 crore samples for Covid so far, including 64,572 in the last 24 hours, the bulletin added.

A total of 6,00,540 Covid vaccine doses were administered in the state on Saturday, including 95,855 for the 15-17 years age group and 39,932 booster doses.