The Bengal government on Tuesday said the number of active Covid-19 patients had come down for the first time with the figure dropping to 1,363 from 1,374 in the past 24 hours because of discharge of 113 cured people.
While 110 new cases were confirmed in the past 24 hours, eight persons died directly from the pathogen in the same period.
The total number of cured patients is 612 with 473 in the first 12 days of May.
The recovery rate also increased to 28.16 per cent — virtually one out of every three infected persons — by over 10 per cent since April 30.
The eight deaths took the toll directly from Covid-19 to 126. There were, till April 30, 72 other deaths of infected people, attributed to comorbidities by the Mamata Banerjee government.
However, while the figures were being shared at a news conference in Nabanna on Tuesday evening by home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, the chief minister’s interjections suggested that Bengal would go back to the practice of reporting comorbid deaths.
When Bandyopadhyay cited the total number of Covid-19 infected persons in the state, which stood at 2,173, Mamata Banerjee said: “No! No… give the figure of the active (positive) cases. Why are you (Bandyopadhyay) giving this (number)? Active cases… that (the total cases) you forget, a lot of people have gone (off that list through cure or death).”
The chief minister seemed to suggest that her government should go back to a reporting format similar to the one used till April 30 when some details were not shared daily.
When Bandyopadhyay said there were eight deaths directly from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, till 9am on Tuesday, Mamata said: “There too, those who died, their case histories, see thoroughly.”
As Bandyopadhyay looked to her for clues — as the state government has stopped reporting comorbid deaths entirely — she said: “You don’t see case histories anymore.”
“Other states, however, have started it…. Those who (the BJP) criticised Bengal, today see, four or five (BJP-ruled) states have started doing it (reporting comorbid deaths),” she added.
Bandyopadhyay attempted explaining to journalists how the state had abandoned the old reporting structure (including getting all novel coronavirus deaths investigated by a controversial audit committee, which has now stepped back), but it had, in essence, been picked up by other states.
“That means you are telling them everything, many are not. Comorbidities accepted now even by the Centre…. When Bengal does it, everything is wrong. When others do it, then?” Mamata asked.
Responding to a question on updated figures of comorbid deaths, Mamata said it was a “good suggestion” and asked chief secretary Rajiva Sinha to look into it.
The chief minister also expressed pride in the state’s testing stats.
In the past 24 hours, 5,007 tests were conducted, breaching the mark of 5,000-tests-a-day.
The positive confirmation rate — the percentage of people found infected among those tested — has improved to 4.13 per cent, from the 4.6 per cent of April 30.
Bengal, said Bandyopadhyay, now has 6,978 people at the 582 state-run quarantine centres and 24,296 in home quarantine. The home quarantine numbers shot up by nearly 15,000 in a matter of four days.
Mamata attributed the spike to the return of migrant workers and others from Bengal stranded elsewhere.
