West Bengal, Delhi register record COVID-19 deaths

Delhi recorded the highest single-day rise in its COVID-19 death toll with 380 succumbing to the infection on Monday, while the positivity rate stood at over 35 per cent, according to the latest bulletin issued by the city health department. This is the fifth day straight that Delhi has recorded over 300 deaths due to coronavirus.

It had reported 350 fatalities on Sunday, 357 deaths, the highest before Monday's figure since the pandemic began a year ago, on Saturday, 348 on Friday and 306 on Thursday, according to government data. The national capital had recorded 22,933 cases on Sunday, 24,103 cases on Saturday, 24,331 on Friday, 26,169 on Thursday, and 24,638 on Wednesday.

With the fresh cases, the national capital's cumulative COVID-19 tally has climbed to 10,47,916 and the death toll due to the viral disease stands at 14,628, the bulletin said.

West Bengal on Monday registered 68 deaths due to COVID-19, the highest so far in a single day, pushing the toll to 11,009, the health department said. The state also reported record 15,992 fresh infections, which took the tally to 7,59,942, the department said in its bulletin.

Kolkata alone accounted for 26 deaths, followed by North-24 Parganas at 11, South-24 Parganas at seven, Hooghly at five and Malda at four. Of the 68 deaths, 45 were due to comorbidities and COVID-19 was just "incidental".

The state capital further recorded 3,868 fresh cases, neighbouring North-24 Parganas 3,425 cases, South 24 Parganas 982, Howrah 914 and Hooghly 818. Accordingly, the number of active cases has risen to 94,949, the bulletin said.