WB: Nodal hospitals to come up in all districts... Total number of coronavirus cases risen to 22 with 2 deaths

TT, 30.03.20: Bengal recorded its second Covid-19 death on Monday and reported another fresh case while chief minister Mamata Banerjee ramped up measures to fight the outbreak by setting up nodal hospitals in all the 22 districts of the state to treat such patients.

Mamata announced that an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh would be extended to healthcare professionals, sanitation workers and police personnel, who have been aiding the government in the fight against coronavirus. Earlier, the government had sanctioned an insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh for people working in the healthcare sector.

She said anyone found ostracising healthcare workers who have been attending to Covid-19 patients would be arrested.

A 44-year-old woman from Kalimpong, who was recently infected with coronavirus, died at a state-run hospital in north Bengal early this morning.

She had recently returned from Chennai, where she had gone for the treatment of her daughter.

Her daughter and the doctor who was treating the woman have been quarantined, a health department official said.

Sixty-seven people who came in contact with the family of five Covid-19 patients of Tehatta in Nadia district have been put under home quarantine.

The total number of coronavirus cases has risen to 22 in Bengal, including the two deaths. An elderly man from Calcutta had died from Covid-19 last week.

During a review meeting on the pandemic at state secretariat Nabanna, the chief minister directed the administration to set up a dedicated nodal hospital in all the districts to deal with cases of the coronavirus.

“The nodal hospitals would come up in each and every district of the state. Apart from that, the facilities of private hospitals in various districts would also be used for setting up isolation wards,” Mamata said.

Mamata announced that all sweet shops in Bengal would remain open from noon to 4pm every day, giving relief to the sweet makers and milk vendors in the state.

She directed top police officers attending the meeting to arrange for blood donation camps across the state.

Banerjee directed her administration to ensure that migrant workers of other states get food items regularly even if they do not possess ration cards.