India News | West Bengal Reports 3,519 New COVID-19 Cases, 78 Fatalities

Kolkata, Jun 14 (PTI) West Bengals COVID-19 tally rose to 14,64,776 on Monday as 3,519 more people tested positive for the infection, while 78 fresh fatalities pushed the states coronavirus death toll to 16,974, a health bulletin said.

Of the fresh fatalities, North 24 Parganas registered 17 deaths followed by Kolkata (11).

North 24 Parganas also recorded the highest number of infections at 584, the bulletin said.

As many 2,171 more people were cured of the disease, taking the discharge rate to 97.55 per cent.

So far, 14,28,881 patients have recuperated from the infection in West Bengal.

The state now has 18,921 active cases.

The state has thus far tested 1,33, 50, 084 samples for COVID-19, including 54,228 in the last 24 hours, the bulletin said.

Meanwhile, with scientists warning that children may be affected during a possible third wave, the state government on Monday decided to escalate inpatient Covid facilities for the younger age group following suggestions of an expert committee.

Around 10,000 general beds have been earmarked for mild and moderate paediatric cases in the age group of 90 days to 12 years and 20 per cent of special newborn care units (SNCU) beds for Covid positive patients in the age group of 1 -90 days, an order said.

"Around 1,300 paediatric ICU beds (PICU) will be arranged at the existing Covid CCU/HDU before the third wave. Such paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) will be set up in all Medical College and Hospitals, district hospitals and sub-divisional hospitals," the order stated.

(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)