Six more die of COVID-19 in Bengal, 148 new cases reported

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Kolkata, May 18 () At least six people have died due to COVID-19 in West Bengal in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the state to 172, the health department said on Monday.

With 148 new COVID-19 cases reported during the last 24 hours, the total number of cases rose to 2,825 of which 1,575 are active, it said.

Of the six deaths, five were from the city and one was from neighbouring South 24 Parganas district, the department said in its bulletin.

Earlier, the government had attributed the death of 72 coronavirus-afflicted patients to comorbidities, and said COVID-19 in those cases was "incidental".

Among the 148 new positive cases, 61 were reported from the metropolis, 28 from Howrah, 26 from North 24 Parganas, 10 from South 24 Parganas, nine from Malda, four from Birbhum and two each from Nadia and North Dinajpur districts, it said.

There was one positive case each from West Burdwan, East Burdwan and East Medinipur, the bulletin added.

At least 47 more people were discharged from different hospitals in the state in the last 24 hours, following their recovery. The number of people who have recovered so far stands at 1,006.

As many as 7,614 samples were tested since Sunday evening. The total number of samples examined so far was 93,570.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the KPC Medical College and Hospital will start treating COVID-19 patients from Tuesday.

Thus, there will be 69 hospitals in the state treating coronavirus, a senior official of the state health department said.

The chief minister also expressed her gratitude towards the police force in West Bengal for their role in fighting the pandemic in the state. SCH RG RHL