Kolkata, Aug 18 (PTI) West Bengal's COVID-19 tally rose to 15,40,258 on Wednesday as 646 more people tested positive for the infection, while seven fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 18,325, a health bulletin said.

As many as 660 more people were cured of the disease, taking the recovery rate to 98.18 per cent.

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The state now has 9,715 active cases, while 15,12,218 people have recovered from the disease to date.

West Bengal has thus far tested 1,64,94,077 samples for COVID-19, including 44,044 in the last 24 hours, it said, adding the positivity rate stood at 1.47 per cent.

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The state has so far vaccinated 3,49,31,229 people, including 3,49,079 on Wednesday.

(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)