Eight die in Siliguri; 71 new cases detected -Siliguri total lockdown ends

SNS, SILIGURI, 29 JULY 2020 : Eight persons, including an Assistant Commandant of the Border Security Force (BSF), died in dedicated hospitals for Covid-19 patients in the past 24 hours in Siliguri.

BSF sources said the 49 year-old was posted at Raninagar in Jalpaiguri under the North Bengal Frontier headquarters. He was admitted in the hospital after he tested positive yesterday.

On the other hand, a 77 year-old resident of Sukantanagar, who was admitted in the Desun Covid Hospital on 25 July, died last evening. Also, an 80-year-old resident of Sevoke Road died hours after his admission there yesterday.

A 72-year-old resident of Siliguri also died there, while a 63-year-old resident of Ektiasal died in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital last evening. An 87-year-old resident of Falakata died in a private nursing home at Prdhannagar.

Also today, two more residents of North Dinajpur district died at the Desun Hospital. One was a 65-year-old woman of Islampur and another a woman of 52 from Raniganj.

On the other hand, 71 fresh Covid cases were detected in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area in the past 24 hours.

Siliguri total lockdown ends

Darjeeling District Magistrate S Ponnambalam said the 14-day total lockdown in Siliguri ends tonight, but that restrictions will continue to be in place in broader containment zones classified earlier until a further decision is taken.

More isolation beds

The Siliguri District Hospital has stepped up preparedness by increasing the number of isolation beds for patients suffering front suspected Covid-19 symptoms.

The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dr Amitava Mondal, said the beds had been increased up to 82 from 32 by rearranging them in different wards. Of the 82 beds, 28 each have been placed in the male, female and medicine wards, six in the surgery ward, eight in the antenatal and postnatal wards, five in the paediatric ward, two in the CCU and five at the 'step down unit.'

36 new infections in Alipurduar

In Alipurduar, 36 persons were tested positive for Covid 19 today. A total of 307 persons have tested positive for the virus in the district so far, while four persons have died after contracting the virus, district health official sources said.

56 in South Dinajpur

In South Dinajpur, 56 more cases of Covid- 19 have been detected, including four cases detected in tests in the True-Nat machine in the Balurghat hospital. Twenty of the fresh cases are from Balurghat Municpality, while four are from rural areas in Balurghat, three from Kumarganj, one from Buniadpur, one from Banshihari, one from Gangarampur town, nine from rural areas of Gangarampur, three from Kushmandi, six from Hili and four from Harirampur, sources said.

The total number of cases in the district has now gone up to 1073, while 798 of them have been discharged after treatment.

31 in Malda

In Malda, 31 of the 293 samples tested in the VRDL in the Malda Medical College and hospital last night have tested positive. Harishchandrapur- II block topped with 15 cases, while English Bazaar had four. The English Bazaar Municipality and Old Malda had three cases each.

Meanwhile, the lockdown was strictly enforced in the district by the police, even as they applied force wherever needed. Police were also seen making the violators perform situps as punishment Markets and shops remained closed and the police patrolled the streeets strictly. Twenty persons were detained by the police for venturing out of their homes without a valid reason during the day in English Bazaar.

"Vehicles were checked and people without masks were also detained,"SP Malda, Alok Rajoria, said.

(Source & courtesy- https://epaper.thestatesman.com/2767431/Siliguri-The-Statesman/30TH-JULY-2020#page/2/3)