Kolkata, Mar 1 (PTI) No one died of the coronavirus in West Bengal in the last 24 hours -- a first since March 22 last year, the state Health Department said on Monday.

So far, 10,268 people have died of the virus in the state, it said.

However, the state reported 198 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,75,316.

The highest of 62 cases were recorded in Kolkata.

The state's discharge rate improved to 97.64 per cent as 212 more people recovered in the last 24 hours. So far, 5,61,755 people have recovered from the disease.

Accordingly, the number of active cases declined to 3,293.

The state has so far tested 85,79,292 samples for COVID-19, including 16,014 since Sunday.

(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)