Daily Covid-19 test count inches close to 10,000 ..Total active cases rose to 2,124 in Bengal, of which 828 are from Calcutta

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, 26.05.20,  Calcutta; Bengal on Monday reported 9,225 Covid-19 tests in 24 hours, which was the highest intra-day test count so far.

The total tests conducted so far in the state were 1,48,049 — with 1,645 tests per million, which was 1,040 a week ago and 110 a month ago.

With the steady rise in the tests, the positive confirmation rate — the percentage of people found infected among those tested — has improved in seven days from 3.02 to 2.58 per cent.

“Our positive confirmation rate is very good now, better than most big states. That is good news,” said a minister. A decreasing positive confirmation rate is indicative of lower levels of Covid-19 spread.

In the past seven days, the state’s total test count has risen by nearly 55,000. The total test count has risen by 15 times from 9,880 tests on April 25.

Bengal on Monday reported six more deaths directly from the pathogen, taking the toll to 206, up from 172 a week ago.

There were, till April 30, deaths of 72 other Covid-19 patients, attributed by the state government to comorbidities.

Of the 278 deceased infected persons, 184 were from Calcutta.

The state on Monday — in 24 hours, till 9am — reported the release of 75 Covid-19 patients following cure. The total cured cases now stands at 1,414, of whom 683 are from Calcutta, 256 from Howrah and 179 from North 24-Parganas.

The recovery rate has risen to 37.05 per cent from 35.61 a week ago. A month ago, it was around 17 per cent.

“Even by way of the recovery rate, we are right up there, in comparison to the rest of India,” said the minister.

There were 149 new confirmed cases of novel coronavirus infection in the state on Monday, taking the total active cases to 2,124, of which 828 are from Calcutta.

A week ago, the total active cases stood at 1,575. The number was 423 a month ago.

The state now has 33 Centre-approved laboratories for Covid-19 tests. Eleven labs were approved by the Union government after May 17. The North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri continues to lead with 21,730 tests, followed by SSKM in Calcutta almost catching up with 18,411 tests.

“Among the 11 latest additions, we have Raiganj Medical College and Hospital, Asannsol District Hospital, Jhargram District Hospital, Rampurhat Medical College and Hospital, Suri District Hospital, Balurghat District Hospital, Falakata Super Speciality Hospital, and Diamond Harbour Government Medical College and Hospital, besides a couple more in Calcutta,” said the minister.

“With these additions, our spread of testing centres across the state has vastly improved. This will enable considerable reduction in time and ease logistics. We estimate a sharper rise in testing over the next few weeks,” he added.

The state now has 17,171 people in the 582 state-run quarantine centres and another 1,02,890 in home quarantine. The quarantine numbers have been on the rise since May 8, around which time the return of migrant workers and others from Bengal stranded elsewhere in India began in large numbers.

“Of the 149 new cases, 107 were from districts with the most returnees,” said the minister.

Bengal has distributed to its hospitals 9.91 lakh personal protective equipment sets, 4,17 lakh N95 or FFP2 masks, 28.43 lakh regular masks, 1.5 lakh litres of hand sanitiser and 18 lakh gloves.