Bengal chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said on Friday that death toll from Covid-19 had reached 18 in the state following a report by a committee that audits the fatalities from the disease.

He said the number of total active Covid-19 patients was 385 with 51 new positive cases being reported in the past 24 hours. The number of cured persons remained at 103.

Sinha said a vast majority of the new cases were reported from Calcutta and its immediate neighbourhood.

“Of the 51 new cases, 51 per cent was from Calcutta, 18 per cent from Howrah and 13 per cent from North 24-Parganas. As you can see, once again, over 80 per cent of the cases are from these districts. The other cases were reported from East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Hooghly and East Burdwan,” he said.

With the 51 on Friday, the total number of new cases found in the past seven days was 271.

Sinha said the Covid-19 toll had risen by three following a report by the committee that audits the pandemic deaths in the state. “The total number of deaths from Covid-19 increased by three. The total number of deaths directly related to Covid-19 is now 18,” he said.

Of the state’s 23 districts, nine — Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, Malda, Bankura, Birbhum, Purulia and Jhargram — have still zero cases.

The state, said the chief secretary, conducted 943 more tests in the past 24 hours, taking the total number to 8,933. Over the past seven days, the state had 4,721 tests conducted. “As we get approval for more labs (from the Centre), number of tests will increase further,” he said.

Bengal currently has 5,190 people at the 582 state-run quarantine centres, following the release of 11,576. There are 26,716 people in home quarantine right now.

The state has so far distributed to its hospitals 4.43 lakh personal protective equipments, 2.66 lakh N95 masks, 28.35 lakh other masks, 1.01 lakh litres of hand sanitiser, 8.70 lakh gloves and 10,000 thermal guns.

Industrial approvals

The government, said Sinha, received 3,711 applications from industries and enterprises for reopening amid the lockdown.

“We have already approved 1,535 applications. A total of 932 were rejected, for being inside or close to containment zones and other parameters, such as the number of personnel required to be functional. The remaining 1,244 applications are under process,” said the chief secretary.