KOLKATA: Making a clear distinction between “died of Covid” and “died with Covid”, Bengal on Friday officially pegged its virus death toll at 18, based on an audit of 57 cases by an expert committee that classified 39 of those deaths as being caused by “severe co-morbidities” and cited the presence of the virus in the deceased as “an incidental finding”.Chief secretary Rajiva Sinha gave the break-up hours after a central team sought clarifications from the state on whether its expert committee was in line with guidelines framed by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The central team, led by Union additional secretary Apurva Chandra , also sought records of all Covid-19 patients who had died and whose deaths had been attributed to other diseases (co-morbidities).Additional secretary Chandra said a large number of patients at MR Bangur were waiting for their test reports for over five days. “Why are the results taking so long?” he said. The central team suggested ramping up testing to between 2,500 and 5,000 tests a day.