Kolkata, Sep 17 (PTI) West Bengal reported nine fresh COVID-19 fatalities on Friday, raising the toll to 18,629, while the coronavirus tally mounted to 15,60,286 with 719 single-day cases, a health department bulletin said.

Also Read | Bengaluru: Class 12 Boy Shoots Self With Father's Pistol Over Pocket Money, Dies.

The state now has 8,008 active cases, and 15,33,649 people have recovered from the disease so far, including 727 since Thursday.

Also Read | PM Narendra Modi Lauds Efforts of Healthcare, Frontline Workers as India Administers Record 2 Crore COVID-19 Vaccine Doses.

The recovery rate among coronavirus patients currently stands at 98.29 per cent, the bulletin said.

Of the new cases, 138 were reported from Kolkata, and 124 from neighbouring North 24 Parganas district.

Five fresh fatalities were registered in North 24 Parganas, three in Kolkata and one in Nadia district.

The state has so far conducted over 1.76 crore sample tests for COVID-19, including 40,181 in the last 24 hours.

On Friday, 3,97,086 people were inoculated, a health department official said, adding that over 4.88 crore eligible beneficiaries in the state have been immunised with 1.41 crore having received both doses of the vaccines.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)