Active Covid-19 cases drop below 5000 in Bengal- Of the 370 new cases, 97% were from districts with returnees; Calcutta alone reported 81

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya, TT, 24.06.20, Calcutta: Total number of active Covid-19 patients in Bengal came down by 763 in 10 days to reach 4,930 on Tuesday — seventh decline after June 13 and the first drop below the 5,000 mark.

The figure of 4,930 is less than the total number of active patients reported on June 9.

As 531 people were cured of the pathogen in the past 24 hours, the recoveries rose to cross the 9,000 mark and reached 9,218. The recovery rate improved further and touched 62.58 per cent. India currently has a recovery rate of around 56 per cent.

After June 13 — now being deemed a pivotal point in the state’s pandemic war, Bengal has had 4,676 recoveries, nearly 51 per cent of the total. The recovery rate has risen by over 20 per cent since June 13.

A month ago, the state had a total of 1,339 cured patients and a recovery rate of 36.51.

“After June 13, there have been only positives to talk about, by way of our Covid-19 stats. Quite a spectacular turnaround for such a cosmopolitan state — with immense population density — that saw over a million returnees in a month. Especially, the falling figure of total active cases and the steadily rising recovery rate… we are in a position of envy,” a Bengal minister said.

The state on Tuesday reported deaths of 11 coronavirus patients, taking the toll to 580.

Of the 370 new Covid-19 cases reported on Tuesday, most — around 97 per cent — were from districts which experienced a high volume of returns of migrant workers and others stranded elsewhere in the country during the initial stages of the lockdown.

Calcutta alone reported 81 new cases in the past 24 hours.

Of the 580 deaths, the state government reported 426 — 73.45 per cent — as those with comorbidity “present”. Calcutta reported the most deaths at 339.

While Bengal’s overall mortality rate stood at 3.93 per cent, that of the city was 7.04. The national rate is 3.16 per cent.

Owing to the considerable rise in new cases, the positive confirmation rate — the percentage of people found infected among those tested — deteriorated from 2.64 a month ago to 3.5 per cent.

Over 4.73 lakh people have completed quarantine successfully and they included over 2.06 lakh Shramik Special returnees. Barely 1.81 lakh people remain in quarantine now and are expected to complete the process before this month ends.

The state reported 9,423 tests in the past 24 hours, taking the total count to 4,20,277 with 4,670 tests per million.

On Sunday, Bengal had crossed the 4 lakh mark, 33 days after it had gone past the 1 lakh milestone, on May 19.“With increased tests, Bengal’s mortality rate has vastly normalised. On April 30, it was 12.87. On May 31, it was 5.76. Even on June 13, it was 4.32. We should improve to below 3 per cent in a matter of weeks,” said the minister.