Covid-19 active cases, deaths and positivity rate rise in West Bengal

Health Department sources said that the overall death rate in the state dropped to 1.48%

The Covid-19 situation in West Bengal was becoming more severe with regard to case positivity rate (CPR), death rate and the number of active patients in several districts, an internal report of the Health Department said. According to Health Department sources the report took into consideration the Covid-19 situation in the state from October 20 to October 26.

They further revealed that from October 20 to October 26 the CPR in Kolkata went up from 19.06% to 21.43%. Similarly, spike in the CPR was also observed in 11 districts.

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While West Medinipur district recorded CPR of 14.60%, it was 12.41% in the Jalpaiguri district. The third slot was occupied by East Medinipur district with 10.72%f followed by Nadia(9.50%), Howrah (8.60%), Darjeeling (8.17%), Malda (7.47%), South 24 Paraganas (6.44%), East Bardhaman( 5.50%), Birbhum(5.48%) and Murshidabad (5.44%).

The Health Department sources said that the overall death rate in the state dropped down to 1.48% from October 20 to October 26 from 1.87% recorded in September 22 to September 28.

However, an increase in this rate has become a cause of concern for the state government, especially in districts such as Kolkata (2%), South 24 Paraganas (1.83%) and North Dinajpur district (1.68%) along with districts such as Nadia, Darjeeling, South Dinajpur, Purulia, Cooch Behar and Bankura.

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Health Department sources said that the reason behind the rise in death rate in the districts was the unwillingness among a large number of people to get hospitalised or staying at safe homes.

Some are even desperate to get treated at home regardless of their condition. They also said that lack of public awareness in the districts was also becoming a hindrance in controlling the infection.

The number of active cases also increased in 17 districts including Darjeeling, South 24 Paraganas and West Medinipur district.

The number of total cases in the state as of Wednesday was 3,61,703 out of which 37,111 were active. While 6,664 patients had died, 3,17,928 had been discharged.