Coronavirus cases continued to surge today with 317 cases being recorded in a single day taking the total case count to 5,130. With the infection spreading rapidly in the state, fresh cases have been recorded from 19 districts and till now only four districts have been spared.

Among the districts where new cases were recorded, the situation in Kolkata is worse with 80 new cases being recorded in the last 24 hours. Howrah comes next with 42 cases followed by North Dinajpur with 38 cases. Seven people died due to Corona since yesterday with six deaths being recorded from Kolkata alone.

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One person died from North 24-Parganas. The total Corona death toll in the state has risen to 237. This apart, 72 people died due to comorbidity. The rate of discharge has significantly improved with 1,970 Corona affected people being cured till date of which 195 were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours.

Currently, there are 2,851 active Corona cases. The chief minister Mamata Banerjee said yesterday that her government was successful in controlling the spread of the virus in the last two months but blamed the rise in the number of cases on the influx of migrant labourers from Coronavirus hotspot states namely Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Delhi.

She has been criticising the Railways for the past few days for ferrying a large number of migrant workers to the state without consulting her government and claimed that it is being done without following the norms of social distancing. Meanwhile, the state government has decided to extend the lockdown for another two weeks with further relaxations.

A notification to implement lockdown in the affected areas or containment zones and simultaneously open up activities in other areas for social economic revival was issued this evening.

All activities permitted in Clear Areas shall be allowed in the Buffer Areas from 1 June. Additional relaxations will be allowed in areas outside the affected zones. As announced by the CM, operation in tea gardens jute mills and construction activities with 100 per cent strength will be effective from 1 June.