Kolkata: As many as 521 new Covid patients have been detected in the state in the past 24 hours taking the total number of affected persons to 16,711 so far. The figure has, however, dropped from Fridays when 542 tested positive in a single day. The infection rate has slightly gone up in the past 48 hours. The total number of patients being released from the hospitals so far stands at 10,789 till Saturday while 254 pandemic patients have been released from various hospitals in the past 24 hours. The discharge rate in the state stands at 64.56 per cent on Saturday. The percentage of positive cases out of samples tested stands at 3.65 per cent. The Bengal government has so far conducted 4,58,343 sample tests out of which 9,548 have been conducted across the state in the past 24 hours. The total death toll has reached 629 in the state so far till Friday out of which 13 persons have died of the disease in the past 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in Kolkata has gone up to 5,402 on Saturday. Kolkata recorded 141 new cases in the past 24 hours. On Friday, the number of patients tested positive in a single day stood at 128. North 24-Parganas has seen 2,545 positive cases so far out of which 117 new patients have been found in the one day. Howrah has seen a total of 2,481 cases so far out of which 106 have been reported on Saturday. There are currently 78 Covid-dedicated hospitals in the state so far. The state has arranged a total of 10,472 beds earmarked for Covid treatment across Bengal. The percentage occupancy in Covid beds stands at 21.83 per cent. Director-General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Dr Balram Bhargava has submitted a report to the state Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam containing the results of the rapid antibody test in the city and other districts. The report says that out of 396 sample tests in Kolkata, 57 have tested positive. Around 400 samples were tested each from Alipurduar, Bankura, Jhargram, South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore. Around four tested positive in Alipurduar, 10 from South 24-Parganas, 3 from East Midnapore and one each from Bankura and Jhargram.

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