At 170 new cases, Kolkata records highest single-day spike in COVID-19 tally

Kolkata recorded its highest single-day spike with 170 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, according to the state health department.

The state capital, which has reported the maximum number of cases in the state, saw its tally jumping to 3,946 with detection of the fresh cases, it said.

There are 2,097 active cases in the city at present, while 1,548 people have been discharged from hospitals so far.

In all, the state reported 415 fresh COVID-19 cases and 10 new deaths, it said. The death toll in the state rose to 495 with the latest fatalities. All the 10 fresh deaths were because of "comorbidities, where COVID-19 was incidental", according to a bulletin issued by the health department.

The total number of cases in the state soared to 11,909, of which 5,386 people are currently undergoing treatment in different hospitals, it said. At least 534 people were discharged from different hospitals in the last 24 hours after being cured.

Four of the new deaths were reported from Kolkata where the death toll stood at 301, three from North 24 Parganas, two from Howrah, and one from South 24 Parganas districts, the bulletin said.

North 24 Parganas recorded 70 cases, 40 new cases were detected in Howrah, 31 in South 24 Paraganas, 18 in Coochbehar, 15 each in Hooghly and Purba Medinipore districts, 13 in Birbhum, 10 in Malda and nine in Paschim Medinipore district, it added.

Eight new cases were found in Nadia, five in Jalpaiguri, two each in Murshidabad, Bankura and Dakshin Dinajpur districts, the bulletin stated.

One case each were reported from Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Uttar Dinajpur, Purulia, Purba Burdwan, it added.

In the last 24 hours, 8,512 samples have been tested for COVID-19, raising the total number of tests to 3,51,754.

A constable of the Kolkata Police was among those testing positive for the disease and was admitted to a private hospital for treatment, sources said.

Over 200 personnel of the force have so far been infected by the deadly virus.