Bengal logs 3,771 Covid cases and 61 deaths

The state again reported a dip in the recovery rate on a day Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said another ‘high level’ central team would be despatched to Bengal
With 43,227 tests recorded on Friday, 39.04 lakh swab samples have been examined so far for the novel coronavirus. The tests per million people stand at 43,381 now.

Meghdeep Bhattacharyya   |   TT   |    Calcutta   |   17.10.20  :  Bengal on Friday logged the highest number of Covid-19 cases at 3,771, resetting the maximum daily count of patients for the 13th time in October. Bengal’s total cases went past 3.13 lakh, which include nearly 2.75 lakh recoveries and 5,931 deaths.

The state logged 3,194 recoveries and 61 deaths on Friday.

The state again reported a dip in the recovery rate on a day Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said another “high level” central team would be despatched to Bengal, apparently in the wake of a surge in the cases. The recovery rate, which had reached a high of 87.98 on October 6, dropped to 87.73 per cent on Friday. The national recovery rate, which was far behind that of the state, is 87.63 now.

“This is not good. After months of not being able to point a finger at us, the BJP-led Centre is once again trying to discredit our war effort in the pandemic using the excuse of the current spell of rise,” said a Bengal minister. “They are sending teams to Bengal, Kerala, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Karnataka. Only the last one is BJP-ruled.”

There had been public spats between such central teams sent earlier and the state government over alleged non-cooperation from Nabanna and suggestions of mismanagement in Bengal’s handling of Covid-19. The team this time, according to the Centre, will support the state’s efforts towards testing, infection prevention, control measures and efficient clinical management of the positive cases.

“Why are central teams not sent to states such as NDA-ruled Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh, which are doing far worse than Bengal?” asked the minister.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been repeatedly issuing warnings for the past few days against letting the pandemic’s spread widen. She said the disease had reached the dreaded community transmission stage in India, which the Centre has been in denial of.

With 43,227 tests recorded on Friday, 39.04 lakh swab samples have been examined so far for the novel coronavirus. The tests per million people stand at 43,381 now.

The renewed surge in the cases caused the positive confirmation rate to rise again in the past week or so to 8.02 per cent now.

Of the total 5,931 deaths reported, Calcutta alone accounted for 1,956, with 13 being recorded during a 24-hour window till 9am on Friday. North 24-Parganas reported a total of 1,342 deaths, 19 of them on Friday.

The state government reported 5,019 deaths (84.6 per cent) as those with comorbidity “present”.

Bengal’s overall mortality rate is 1.89, substantially behind the national rate of 1.52 per cent.

The state reported 37.66 per cent occupancy on 12,715 beds earmarked for Covid-19 at 92 dedicated hospitals. Till now, 3.39 lakh telemedicine consultations have been made for the pandemic.