Highest single-day Covid spike in Malda- Five more die in Siliguri; 45 new cases

A

VIJIT ROY, SNS, MALDA. 5 AUGUST 2020: A policeman garlands a lockdown violater In English Bazaar In Malda on Wednesday. 

Setting a new record in the number of daily infections, Malda today reported 128 new cases of Covid-19, the highest single-day spike in the district so far.

Among the new cases, 120 were found through the regular RT-PCR tests at theVRDL in the Malda Medical College and Hospital and the remaining eight through rapid antigen tests, sources said.

"Today's was the highest number of coronavirus cases reported in a single day so far in Malda," a district health official said. Gazole MLA, Dipali Biswas, and her husband were also tested positive for the virus last night, and they are now undergoing treatment in home isolation.

According to sources, the highest number of cases among the 120 is from the Ratua-II block (27), while 18 cases were found in Gazole. Chanchal-I also had 18 new infections, while Kaliachak-I and Bamongola had 12 each. English Bazaar Municipality had 14, while the Old Malda Municipality had seven cases On the other hand, the police today took up the 'Gandhigiri way of warning lockdown violators. Police personnel garlanded people who ventured out in Old Malda, while chocolates were also given to such people, followed by a good awareness session. "Fifteen persons were detained from different areas of the district for violation of the lockdown," a police source said.

Five Dead

Five persons who had tested positive for Covid-19, including two Siliguri residents, have died in the past 24 hours. A 71-year-old resident of Udham Singh Sarani died at the Desun Hospital at Kawakhali. She was admitted there on 3 August. A 66-year old resident of Bhaktinagar in Ward 35 died at the Siliguri District Hospital, and the rapid antigen test confirmed he had Covid-19.

Another 60-year-old person of Islampur in North Dinajpur district died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.

Hospital sources said the patient had also been diagnosed of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia.

It is further learnt that two persons of Subhas Pally and Deshbandhu Para died at Dr Chhang's Hospital at Matigara yesterday

Meanwhile, 45 new cases of covid-19 have been registered in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area in the past 24 hours, sources said.

Officials also said that 71 cases have been freshly detected in Darjeeling district, including 30 in the SMC (Darjeeling part), 33 in Naxalbari, seven in Matigara and one in Kurseong.

"Among the 33 cases at Naxalbari, 28 are from Army establishments," an official said.

Sources said 33 patients have been discharged after being cured, including from home isolation, in Darjeelin g district.

Meanwhile, Siliguri witnessed a 'complete' lock-down today, the first day of the seven days of lockdown this month announced by the state government. Fewer people stepped out of their homes as compared to other days today.

The other bi-weekly lockdown days are 8 August (Saturday), 20 (Thursday), 21 (Friday), 27 (Thursday),28 (Friday) and 31 (Monday), according to a state government notification.The government has announced the lock-down in its efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic by stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

While police rounded up several people for violating the lockdown, most of the detained persons were BIP and Hinduva wing activistsas they took out processions to mark the 'bhoomi pujan for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Tension spread among Trinemul Congress and BJP activists over the issue at Balaka More. BIP supporters shouted lay Shree Ram' and zipped around the town in motorcycles in the evening. Arrests were also made from Gurung Busty, where the supporters were celebrating the day.

Police personnel were out in force on the roads and they stopped everyone passing by and sought explanations for their outing during the lockdown.

"The movement of vehicles on Safdar Hasmi Chawk, Sevoke More, SF Road, and Burdwan Road was less today as compared to the other days of the lockdown," a traffic policeman said.

In South Dinajpur district, 108 more coronavirus patients have been detected, sources said. While 84 of them were confirmed in tests conducted in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, the remaining 24 tested positive in the rapid antigen test and tests in the TrueNut machine at the Balurghat hospital.

Six of the fresh cases are from Balurghat town and eight from rural areas in the block. A total of 18 cases are from Harirampur, one from Gangarampur, 16 from Kumarganj and 35 from Hili block. The fresh cases have taken the number of Covid patients in the district to 1463.A total of 1,021 people have so far recovered and returned home.