KOLKATA: West Bengal, which is witnessing a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases for the last few days, on Saturday reported 4,512 fresh infections, 1,061 more than the previous day, with Kolkata accounting for 2,398 fresh cases, a health bulletin said.
West Bengal had on Friday registered 3,451 cases, with the metropolis recording 1,954 infections.
The state's caseload rose to 16,42,997.
Nine more patients succumbed to the infection on Saturday.
Seven people had died on the previous day.
The state's coronavirus death toll rose to 19,773.
Of the nine fresh fatalities, two each were reported in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas.
The state's positivity rate rose to 12.02 per cent from 8.46 per cent on the previous day, while the number of daily tests went down from 40,813 to 37,542, it said.
After Kolkata, North 24 Parganas registered the second-highest number of 688 new cases, up from 496 on the previous day, the bulletin said.
Apart from Kolkata and North 24 Parganas, other districts that recorded a high number of cases are Howrah (344), South 24 Parganas (198) and Hooghly (165), it said.
The recovery rate stood at 97.99 per cent as 1,913 more people were cured of the disease.
The state now has 13,300 active cases, while 16,09,924 people have recovered from the disease to date.
The state has thus far tested over 2,14,29,414 samples for COVID-19, the bulletin added.
Meanwhile, people in large numbers gathered at popular tourist spots in Kolkata and elsewhere in West Bengal to celebrate the new year on Saturday, while Covid-19 cases are rising alarmingly in the state.
Revellers throng places such as the Alipore Zoo, Eco Park, Victoria Memorial and the Indian Museum in and around the metropolis, and sea beaches of Digha, Mandarmani and Bakkhali.
Though the number of people appears to be less compared to that during Christmas day, the police had a tough time controlling the crowd and making them follow Covid-19 preventive protocols such as wearing masks and maintaining physical distance.
A section of people also went to theatres to enjoy movies or to restaurants for a meal on the occasion.
The famous Kali temples at Kalighat and Dakshineswar which usually draw a large number of devotees on the new year's day were closed for visitors and so was the Belur Math, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Math and Mission (RKM).
The annual 'Kalpataru Utsav' held on January 1 at Kashipur Udyanbati, which also attracts thousands of people, was out of bounds for devotees like last year, an RKM spokesperson said.
Monks of the order believe that on this day in 1886, Sri Ramakrishna had been blessed with the inner vision ('Chaitanya') at this north Kolkata house.
It is also believed that he had become 'Kalpataru', the mythical wish-fulfilling tree, on the same day.
However, the Kamarpukur and Joyrambati units of the RKM in Hooghly and Bankura districts respectively were open and many visited the two places.
Sri Ramakrishna and Sarada Devi, his spiritual consort, were born in Kamarpukur and Joyrambati respectively.
West Bengal is witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 cases for the last few days.
On Saturday, it reported 4,512 fresh infections, 1,061 more than the previous day's figure, with Kolkata accounting for 2,398 fresh cases.
Greeting people on the occasion of the new year, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urged them to follow Covid-19 protocols.
Two more people have tested positive for the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in West Bengal, taking the total number of cases in the state to 16, a senior health official said on Saturday.
One of the new patients came from Odisha while a local person tested positive for Omicron at the India-Bangladesh international border in Petrapole in North 24 Parganas district, he said.
"The person who came from Odisha, and the one who tested positive at Petrapole are undergoing treatment in Kolkata. The total number of cases has increased to 16," the official said.
Meanwhile, five other travellers who recently arrived in West Bengal from other countries tested positive for the Delta variant of the coronavirus.
The state government on Saturday decided to postpone its scheduled 'Duare Sarkar' and Students' Credit Card programmes, a senior official said.
The 'Duare Sarkar' programme was slated to be held on Sunday and the Students Credit Card programme was to be held in Netaji Indoor stadium in the city the next day.
Both programmes have been postponed to a later date which will be announced after reviewing the situation, he said.
"The COVID-19 infection is rising everyday. This is an alarming situation and we have to take all precautionary measures to combat the spread. We have decided not to allow any congregation for the sake of the people. Hence these programmes have been postponed," he said.
The state reported 4512 COVID-19 positive cases on Saturday, up from 3451 on Friday, a health department bulletin said.
The state government had organised around 60,000 outreach camps at the level of the gram panchayat and municipal ward levels across the state for its 'Duare Sarkar' programme, which is spread over 30 days from where the people of the state are able to avail benefits of its 24 schemes at their doorsteps.
The Student Credit Card scheme is designed to support the students to pursue secondary, higher secondary, madrasah, undergraduate and post graduate studies, including professional degree within and outside India.
The Calcutta High Court will function in the virtual mode from January 3 in view of the threat of the imminent third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic and alarming rise in the number of coronavirus cases, Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava ordered on Saturday.
The administrative order, which was notified by the high court registrar general, said that hybrid mode of hearing of cases will be allowed only in respect of bail matters where public prosecutors will be allowed to be physically present with case diary and in other matters where government and other advocates are to produce or tender documents in court.
"The Court proceedings shall be through virtual mode only" in view of the threat of the imminent third wave of the Covid pandemic and also the alarming rise in the number of Covid cases, the order said.
It said that trial of suits by witness examination will be suspended.
The same system will be followed in the circuit benches of Jalpaiguri and Andaman and Nicobar Islands and district courts, it said.
After the second wave of the pandemic subsided, hearing of cases had been allowed in the hybrid mode, wherein lawyers were permitted to appear either physically or virtually.
West Bengal, which is witnessing a sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases from the beginning of this week, recorded 3,451 infections on Friday with Kolkata alone accounting for 56 per cent of them.
While the state's fresh infections had shot up by 62 per cent since Thursday, the metropolis' new Covid cases increased by 79 per cent.
West Bengal Power Minister Aroop Biswas was hospitalised on Saturday after he tested positive for COVID-19, an official said.
Biswas, who exhibited mild symptoms, tested positive for the infection and was admitted to a hospital in the southern part of Kolkata, he said.
"He has mild symptoms and he is being administered antibodies. His oxygen levels are being monitored, and it is yet to be decided whether to send his samples for genome sequencing," the official told PTI.
Doctors of the hospital are keeping Biswas under strict surveillance, he added.