West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said there is nothing to ‘quarrel’ with the Centre if the names of the representatives of the State were not in the list of speakers at the virtual meeting with the Prime Minister. “Probably they did not feel it was necessary and did not call. There is nothing to quarrel about. We should all dedicate our time for the service of the people,” she told journalists at the Secretariat. Ms. Banerjee’s name was not in the list of the speakers. The Chief Minister, instead, held a meeting with the officials on the pandemic.
Safe houses for COVID-19 patients
Ms. Banerjee announced a new concept of “safe houses” for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms. “We want to reserve hospital beds for those who develop complications so that we can save lives.” She said 104 such houses will be set up. She announced incentives for corona warriors — the police and the health professionals — since they are working in “difficult areas”. She said post-graduate trainees, house staff and interns working for COVID-19 can also avail themselves of the benefits for higher studies and get a certificate from the State government.
The Chief Minister urged private hospitals not to turn away COVID-19 patients. She said Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha will meet them on Thursday and a mechanism will be set up where they will make beds available to the public.
391 infections, 505 discharged
Over the past 24 hours, the State recorded 391 cases taking the number of infections to 12,300. As 505 persons have been discharged, the number has increased to 6,533 which is higher than the active cases (5,261). The discharge rate stands at 53.11 %. Eleven deaths were reported of which seven are from Kolkata.
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