Kolkata, Aug 19 (PTI) West Bengal's COVID-19 tally increased to 15,40,989 on Thursday as 731 more people tested positive for the infection, while 12 fresh fatalities pushed the state's coronavirus death toll to 18,337, a health bulletin said.

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The highest number of 89 new cases were reported from the metropolis.

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As many as 781 people were cured of the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 98.18 per cent.

The state now has 9,653 active cases, while 15,12,999 people have recovered thus far, it said.

West Bengal has tested 1,65,39,192 samples for COVID-19, including 45,115 in the last 24 hours.

(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)