West Bengal has not reported any coronavirus-related fatality in the past 24 hours but 16 new COVID-19 positive cases have emerged, a senior official of the state health department said on Thursday.
The total number of people infected with the deadly virus has increased to 53, including seven deaths, he said.
The West Bengal Health Department has conducted COVID-19 tests on 104 people in the past 24 hours, the official said, adding that reports of a total of 133 people were received during the period.
However, addressing a press conference, Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha claimed that only three people had died in the state due to coronavirus.
"The other four persons who died had co-morbidity like heart and kidney-related problems... whether they died because of COVID-19 is yet to be ascertained," Sinha told reporters at the state secretariat.
He also said that of the 53 cases, nine people tested negative for COVID-19 when their swabs were examined for the second time.
Sinha added that a total of 34 people were active COVID-19 patients in West Bengal.
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