There were 344 new Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) confirmed cases in West Bengal on May 28, with 2,573 active cases in the state right now. This is the highest number of positive cases on a single day so far.
Officials were not available on record to explain the reason for the huge increase on a single day, but some officials who did not want to be quoted said that the movement of trains to various parts of Bengal from elsewhere in the country that had started, may have led to the rise in number of positive cases.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and the state’s top officials have been stating for the past few days that the Centre has not planned nor discussed with the state government about sending so many trains with migrant workers to Bengal at the same time. Banerjee said on Wednesday that the migrant workers coming from some of the most COVID-19 affected states may be hazardous to public health in Bengal as the state cannot cope with the necessary checks and precautions for so many people if a huge number of trains keep coming in. She said that the number of people coming in is far exceeding the infrastructure facilities for keeping them quarantine. Moreover, Banerjee has alleged, that though the state government has paid for the travel of the people coming in the trains, they have not been made to keep social distancing during the journey. That too, may lead to an increase in the spread of COVID-19, she had said on Wednesday, expressing fear.
Home secretary Alapan Bandopadhyay had said on Tuesday that the state wants the process to be slowed down, so that those who wish to come back can do so but gradually.
Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, 90 persons have been discharged, taking the total number of discharged persons to 1,668. This makes the discharge rate 36.77 per cent in Bengal. According to the health bulletin of the state government, the total number of deaths from COVID-19 is 223 apart from another 72 deaths of COVID 19 positive patients who are said to have died from co-morbidities. There were six deaths in the last 24 hours. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the state so far (till May 28) is 4,536.
The number of samples tested till May 28 has now reached 1,75,769, with 9,256 tests done on May 28. The tests per million population in the state now is 1,953. The tests are being done in 38 laboratories across the state with eight new labs added this week and one more waiting for approval.
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