In West Bengal, 56 percent of the people testing positive for the novel coronavirus are migrants who returned from other states. A senior state health department official said on June 17 that 10 out of 100 migrant workers who were tested turned out to be COVID-19 positive.
The official added: “Most of them (migrants testing COVID-19 positive) are asymptomatic and this is making the current situation quite difficult.”
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So far, more than six lakh migrant workers have returned to Bengal by Shramik Special trains and lakhs more have returned by road. As per the state health ministry, several districts in Bengal such as Purulia, Coochbehar and Birbhum were green zones before the stranded migrant workers returned to their natives.
The news comes at a time when Bengal’s coronavirus count dipped for the third consecutive day and the patient recovery rate crossed 50 percent for the first time. More than 6,000 coronavirus patients in West Bengal have recovered already, while the state’s COVID-19 toll is 495 at present. The total COVID-19 tally stands at 11,909, inching towards the 12,000-mark.
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The latest figures on the state health bulletin revealed that most of the fresh COVID-19 cases were reported from Kolkata, followed by North 24 Parganas and Howrah, respectively. The health department update also revealed that 8,512 coronavirus samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking Bengal’s total coronavirus test count to 3,51,754.
(With PTI inputs)
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