Five more die in Siliguri; 54 new cases in Malda - Siliguri civic area reports 59 new Covid infections

SNS, SILIGURI, 27 JULY 2020 : Five more persons who had tested positive for Covid- 19 have died in Siliguri. It is learnt that two residents of Khalpara and Matigara died at the dedicated hospital for Covid patients at Kawakhali here today.

Two more persons, including a resident of Islampur in North Dinajpur district, also died today. They had also been tested positive, while one more resident of Siliguri died in a private hospital in the town, sources said.

Meanwhile, 59 new cases have been recorded in areas under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation in the past 24 hours.

Also today, a total of 48 patients were discharged from various health facilities after they recovered from Covid-19, officials said. Darjeeling district officials said 14 patients also ended their home isolation today.

Meanwhile, a section of students at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) has demanded that the authorities not reduce the seats for house staff. The students met NBMCH authorities and placed the demand during counselling today, it is learnt.

According to them, the seats for the supplementary students were fixed at 10 last year, but that it had been reduced to six this year. They argued that against the backdrop of Covid-19 when manpower was required, the NBMCH authorities should accept their demand.

The NBMCH dean of student affairs, Dr Sandip Sengupta, however, said there was no controversy over the issue of seat fixation.

There are 62 regular seats and two have been reserved for dental students.

In Malda, 54 fresh cases of coronavirus were detected last night in tests conducted in the VRDL in the Malda Medical College and Hospital. The fresh cases have taken the total number of affected in the district to over 2100. Among the fresh cases, 13 are from areas under the English Bazaar Municipality (EBM) and 11 from the Old Malda Municipality areas, sources said. Ratua-I had fresh 10 cases, including four police personnel, and in Gazole the number of fresh infections stood at eight.

An elderly trader of an area under the English Bazaar police station died yesterday at the Covid hospital at Narayanpur under the Malda police station. He had tested positive for the virus. The death toll in the district now stands at 10.

One man of the Border Security Force in Baishnabnagar in Malda vvas also tested positive for the virus. According to the state health bulletin, the active cases in the district among the tested ones are around 350.