One case each was recorded in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri ... Covid-19 cases go up in Malda by 11

Soumya De Sarkar, TT, 20.05.20, Malda: Eleven new coronavirus positive cases were reported in Malda during the past 24 hours, increasing the total number of Covid-19 patients to 45.

One each Covid-19 case was recorded in Siliguri and Jalpaiguri as well on Tuesday. Of the new patients in Malda, 10 are from Manikchak block, while the eleventh belongs to Gazole block.

Collection of swab samples from migrant workers resumed at the Gourkanya bus stand here on Tuesday. Over the past four days, no swab samples were collected from the migrants because of paucity of health workers and backlog at the laboratory at the Malda Medical College and Hospital.

“We have recruited 10 new technicians on an emergency basis so that more people can be engaged in swab collection,” said an administrative official.

On Tuesday, 10 patients were released after cure from the Covid hospital in Malda. Also, three persons were discharged from the Covid hospital in Raiganj.

“All of them are migrant workers and were released after they tested negative for the coronavirus,” a health department official said.

A special train carrying 246 migrant workers reached Raiganj station on Tuesday.

Sandip Biswas, the chairman of Raiganj municipality, along with other councillors, welcomed them. They were screened and their swab samples collected at the station.

They have been asked to be in home quarantine for a fortnight. Also, in Malda, around 4,000 migrant workers arrived by three special trains from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, said sources.

Additional reporting by Kousik Sen in Raiganj