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Bengal sees sharp rise in number of red zones, total tally now at 10
The number of containment zones in Kolkata and its surrounding areas has also gone up over the past few days. Earlier, Kolkata had 227 containment zones, but Thursday’s tally showed 264.
Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) tentacles are fast spreading in West Bengal, according to the latest figures released by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW).
Bengal, which had only four districts under the Red Zone category till Wednesday, included six more to the tally on Thursday and now 10 districts have been tagged in the high-risk category, the latest MoH&FW figures showed.
Earlier, four districts – Kolkata, North 24 Parganas, Howrah, and East Midnapore -- were tagged as Red Zones.
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On Thursday, South 24 Parganas, West Midnapore, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, and Malda joined the country’s 130 Red Zone districts.
The number of containment zones in Kolkata and its surrounding areas has also gone up over the past few days. Earlier, Kolkata had 227 containment zones, but Thursday’s tally showed 264.
In the adjoining Howrah district, there are now 72 containment zones up from 56, while the corresponding figure for North 24 Parganas is 70 from 57. The overall tally for containment zones in the state stands at 444.
“Of the 37 new Covid-19 positive cases that were reported between Wednesday and Thursday, 80% of them were registered in Kolkata, Howrah and North 24 Parganas districts,” said Rajiva Sinha, chief secretary, West Bengal.
The MoH&FW figures showed that Bengal reported 795 Covid-19 positive cases till Thursday, of which 139 have recovered so far.
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The state government, which drew flak for its alleged abysmal rate of Covid-19 testing rate, is conducting tests across 14 facilities and around 1,900 swab samples are being tested daily. In early April, only 200 swab samples were tested daily.
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Till Thursday, 105 Covid-19 patients have died in the state, of which SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease, claimed 33 lives and the rest 72 due to co-morbid conditions, the chief secretary added.
