Next 15 days important, will tighten curbs, says West Bengal CM amid COVID surge

As the country is witnessing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases for the past week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday sounded alarm on the rising cases in the state, stating that virus-related curbs can be tightened to mitigate spread.

Sharing the COVID stats, Mamata stated that there are 2,075 COVID-19 patients who are hospitalized. A total of 403 containment zones, adding that the case positivity rate has jumped to 23.17%, while the fatality rate stood at 1.18 per cent. She also said that there are 19,517 beds available.

Given the staggering numbers, the chief minister also said that next 15 days are important to asses the COVID situation, adding that she will meet with Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.

The CM also mandated RT-PCR test for interstate border area movement.

Meanwhile, West Bengal reported 14,022 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours, said the state health department on Wednesday.

As per a bulletin provided by the health department, the positivity rate for the day stands at 23.17 per cent. A total of 60,511 samples were tested during the last 24 hours. During the last 24 hours, 6,438 people recovered from the infection, taking the recoveries in the state to 16,25,454.

17 people lost their lives to the deadly virus during the last 24 hours. The death toll in the state due to the disease stands at 19,827. There are currently 33,042 active COVID-19 cases in the state.