Containment zones back in West Bengal as COVID-19 cases surge after Durga puja

Kolkata: Covid-19 cases are rising fast in West Bengal as the state continued to record an upward trend in the new coronavirus infections for the fourth consecutive day after the Durga Puja festival last week, according to the state Health department bulletin released on Sunday.

The state reported 989 new cases on Sunday, higher than the previous day's 974 cases. On October 22, 21 and 20, the number of fresh cases was 846, 833 and 867 respectively.

On Sunday, West Bengal registered 10 fresh fatalities due to coronavirus, two less than what the figure was on Saturday. The new deaths took the toll to 19,055 while the state's caseload has gone up to 15,86,455 on Sunday.

Kolkata recorded the highest number of positive cases in the state at 273 on Sunday, followed by 146 in neighbouring North 24 Parganas, the bulletin said.

The number of active cases went up to 7,882 from Saturday's 7,731. The percentage of positive cases is 2.32 per cent on Sunday, up from Saturday's 2.26 per cent.

Throwing caution to the wind, people in large numbers had been seen visiting big-ticket Durga Puja pandals in and around Kolkata during the festival which ended on October 15.

Of the 10 fresh fatalities, two each were reported in Kolkata, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas districts. With 828 people discharged on Sunday, the recovery rate stood at 98.30 per cent. The bulletin said 42,622 samples were tested on Sunday, compared to Saturday's 43,159.

Altogether 15,59,518 patients have been discharged so far, it said. A total of 1,89,28,189 samples have been tested in West Bengal till date. In view of the situation, the state administration has started re-introducing containment zones to check the spread of the virus and prevent a possible third wave.

Containment zones have already come up in Howrah and North 24 Parganas, the districts with the highest number of daily cases after Kolkata. The Kolkata Municipal Corporation is likely to decide on the matter on Monday.