The West Bengal government on Thursday said 440 more people had tested positive for COVID-19, taking the overall case count to 9,768, while 10 people died of the disease. With a mean increase of 413 cases each day over the past week, the state is pacing up to breach the 10,000-case mark on Friday. If it happens, West Bengal will become the eighth state to report over 10,000 cases.

Meanwhile, the statewide toll has increased to 442. Only Maharashtra, Gujarat and Delhi have recorded more deaths. Four of the newest deaths occurred in Kolkata, and two each within the neighboring districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Howrah. The rest of the districts combined have reported only 27 of the entire deaths to date.

Of the newest positive cases, the most,117, were detected in Kolkata. The state capital was followed by North 24 Parganas with 67, Howrah with 44, and 41 infections recorded in Darjeeling district.

According to the health bulletin, during which figures are updated till 9 am, Jhargram, Purulia, and Purba Bardhaman were the sole districts to not report any case. Jhargram has reported the fewest cases to date (11), and with the recoveries of 5 patients on Thursday was reported to be COVID-19 free.

Overall, 209 people were discharged from hospitals in 24 hours, taking the entire number of recovered patients to three, 988, and therefore the recovery rate to 40.82% — the highest to date. The active case count, meanwhile, rose to 5,338.

According to the health bulletin, 9,522 samples were examined in 24 hours, taking the total count of specimens examined to date to 3,06,941. The test positivity rate also increased to 3.18%.

The health department said 1,18,181 migrant returnees were in special centers, while 18,671 others were quarantined in government facilities. The bulletin said 1,56,392 people remained isolated at home.

Meanwhile, the government has called for meeting 17 sports associations of the State, including cricket and football, to narrow down plans for the resumption of sporting events after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides. Most tournaments presently are shelved due to the nationwide lockdown that was enforced since the last week of March to contain the contagion.