Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s younger brother Ashim Banerjee died of coronavirus-related complications at a hospital here on Saturday. He breathed his last around 9.20 am at the private hospital. Banerjee was 60. “He had tested positive for COVID-19 nearly a month ago and was undergoing treatment since then,” said Dr Alok Roy, chairman of Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Kolkata.
The Trinamool Congress supremo’s brother was popular as ‘Kalida’ among locals in his residential area of Kalighat. His last rites will be conducted this afternoon as per Covid protocols.
COVID-19 in Bengal
Earlier on Friday, West Bengal registered its highest single-day spike of 20,846 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 10,94,802. The toll rose to 12,993 after 136 more people, including five eminent doctors, succumbed to the infection. Senior BJP leader Mukul Roy and his wife Krishna are among those who contracted the disease.
Five Well-Known Doctors Die of COVID
Of the 136 deaths, 67 were due to the comorbidities where COVID-19 was incidental. North 24 Parganas district accounted for 42 fatalities and Kolkata 34. The five doctors who lost their lives are well-known pathologist Dr Subir Kumar Dutta (90), renowned physician from Barasat, Dr Utpal Sengupta (in his 70s), surgeon Dr Satish Ghata (late 70s), Dr Sandipan Mandal (37) of Murshidabad Medical College and Hospital, and gynaecologist Dr Dilip Chakraborty.