According to the data available with the state Health department, on Monday 6,078 people got infected with Covid-19, but on Tuesday it made a quantum leap and touched 9,073, taking the total number of Covid-infected patients to 16,64,308 in the state.

 

The rapid increase in the spread of the disease has forced the state to go for a partial lockdown.

 

On Monday, the infection rate in the state was 439 but on Sunday it rose to 6,153 -- a 12-time surge. On Tuesday the rate touched 9,073.

 

The rate of increase in infected cases during the last seven days has been alarmingly upward. On last Wednesday, the daily rate of infections crossed the 1,000-mark for the first time in the last 177 days, recording 1,089. On last Thursday, the rate increased to 2,128, last Friday it was 3,415, -- a daily increase of 1,000 or more. On Sunday it showed a daily increase of more than 1,500 taking the figure of daily infections to 6,153. On Monday it was slightly lower with 6,078 cases.

 

Kolkata recorded the highest rate of infection among the districts recording more than half of Covid infections.

 

According to data available with the state Health department, 4,759 people were found to be Covid-positive in the city on Saturday, followed by North 24 Parganas that saw daily infection of 1,391 positive cases while Howrah recorded 698 cases.

 

The state government is keen to stop the rapid surge of the disease. The government, apart from imposing restrictions on movement and the people, has announced containment zones in different parts of the city and suburbs.

 

At present, the state government has announced 26 micro-containment zones in Howrah, 118 in the North and South 24 Parganas and another 25 in Kolkata.

 

"We are against total lockdown. We are taking every possible step to control the spread of the disease," a senior state government official said.