Mamata Banerjee's brother dies of Covid-related complications

KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's brother Ashim Banerjee died of Covid-related complications at a hospital in Kolkata this morning. He was 60.

"He had tested positive for COVID-19 and was undergoing treatment," Dr Alok Roy, chairman of Medica Superspecialty Hospital in Kolkata, was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The last rites will be conducted this afternoon as per Covid protocols.

West Bengal reported 20,846 fresh COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the state's total caseload to over 10.94 lakh. 136 patients died in the same period.

Bengal is among the 12 states that cumulatively account for 79.7 per cent of India's total active cases, the Union Health Ministry had said on Friday.

India added 3.26 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total cases in the country to 2.43 crore. 3,890 more patients lost their battle to the deadly virus.