At 96, Bengal reports highest COVID deaths in a day; 17,411 new cases spotted

KOLKATA: West Bengal on Friday registered the highest single-day COVID-19 deaths with 96 people succumbing to the disease, the health department said in a bulletin.

The tally mounted at 8,28,366 with a record one-day spike of 17,411 new cases of infection.

Of the fresh fatalities, 28 were reported from Kolkata, 20 from North 24 Parganas district and 14 from Hooghly district, the bulletin said.

The remaining deaths were registered in several other districts.

The bulletin said that 50 out of the 96 deaths were due to comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental.

In the last 24 hours, 13,932 recoveries were registered in West Bengal.

The discharge rate slipped to 84.91 per cent.

So far, 7,03,398 people have been cured of coronavirus in the state.

The number of active cases in the state currently is 1,13,624.

The new positive cases included 3,932 from North 24 Parganas and 3,924 from Kolkata.

Since Thursday, 53,248 samples have been tested for COVID-19, taking the total number of such tests to 1,04,32,553, the bulletin said.

Outgoing Trinamool Congress MLA of Baruipur East constituency, septuagenarian Nirmal Chandra Mondal, succumbed to COVID-19 at a government hospital in Kolkata on Friday.

Meanwhile, the state government on Friday issued an order stating that last rites of all COVID-19 victims will be carried out free of cost amid complaints of fleecing by middlemen at crematoriums and burial grounds.

According to the government order, the urban development and municipal affairs department has appointed nodal officers for all 124 municipal corporations in the state's 23 districts, including Kolkata, to supervise the cremation and burial processes.

Also, coordinators have been appointed for arranging hearses for the deceased.

"There were reports that middlemen at crematoriums and burial grounds are fleecing families of COVID-19 victims. After conducting a probe into the matter, the department has decided to appoint nodal officers to supervise the cremation process," a senior official said.

A state control room number (033-2214-1995) and another helpline (18004191198) have been launched by the department to answer people's queries and address their grievances, he added.