Covid: Five die in Siliguri; dip in Malda cases- Member of SMC Board of administrators infected

SNS, SILIGURI, 31 JULY 2020: Five persons, two from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) area and two from rural areas of th e Siliguri Sub-Division, died today. They had been tested positive for Covid 19, sources said.

A 78-year-old resident of East Vivekananda Pally died in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), while a n 80-year old resident of Shantinagar also died there, it is learnt.

Two persons front Matigara and Phansidewa blocks also died at the Desun (Covid) Hospital at Kawakhali. A 79 year-old person of Halka in Matigara was admitted in the hospital yesterday, while another 55-year-old resident of Khaliljote was admitted there on 25 July. Also today, a 33-year- old man from Salugara died at the NBMCH, sources said.

Meanwhile, a member of the Board of Administrators (BoA), health, Siliguri Municipal Corporation Sankar Ghosh, also tested positive for Covid-19 today. Mr Ghosh had been in isolation for the past few days after he developed symptoms. Earlier, the chairperson of the BoA, Asok Bhattacharya, and other members, Mukul Sengupta and Rambhajan Mahato, were infected too. Mr Ghosh is undergoing treatment in home isolation.

On the other hand, 27 persons under the SMC area have tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours. Among th e new cases, Ward 9 has registered eight, sources said.

Mental health cell

As the Covid-19 pandemic leads to anxiety and panic among the people, the Siliguri chapter of the Covid Care Network, a group of individuals and Covid survivors, mainly dedicated healthcare workers and doctors, is planning to set up a cell for mental health counseling. Members of the network believe that the situation has brought into focus the importance of such counseling.

"Covid-19 has serious consequences on the mental health of people.Therefore, we are planning to open a cell to help people under depression, anxiety, panic, or fear of ostracism due to the prevailing situation. News of deaths, social alienation, fear, and the resultant psychological trauma are indicative of mental health problems. We will rope in mental health experts in our network," said the nodal person of the network and the dean of student affairs at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, Dr Sandip Sengupta. He said the network receives around 3040 calls daily, basically on treatment of patients.

Containment zones

The Darjeeling district administration has enforced a broad-based containment in six wards of the SMC and three more areas in the Matigara block--for seven days from 2 August.

Mahananda Para under Wards 4 and 5, the area covering BurdwanRoad--Agrasen Road to SP Mukherjee Road Burdwan Road crossing through Nehru Road crossing, Vidyasagar Road, Vivekananda Road under Wards 7, 8 and 9, areas at Bharat Nagar, and Guru Saday Dutta Road in Ward 24 will now fall under the zones. Areas including Medical More Market, Kawakhali, portion of Asian Highway- II, New Township Market, road opposite to Desun Hospital also have been marked such zones.

20 cases in Malda

Meanwhile, registering a dip in Covid cases, Malda reported 20 fresh cases in the total 435 samples tested at the VRDL in the Malda Medical College and Hospital last night. Fourteen cases among these are from Gazole, and three each from Harishchandrapur and Old Malda. Much to the relief of everyone, including officials, there were no fresh cases in English Bazaar and Old Malda municipalities. So far, 47623 samples have been tested positive in the MMCH, among which 44240 have tested negativs officials said.