One dies; 64 new cases in Darj district - Alipurduar Cooch Behar positive case rate up- Malda dip: Officials hopeful, but cautious

SNS, SILIGURI, 8 SEPTEMBER 2020: A 77-year-old resident of Babu Para in Siliguri, who had tested positive for Covid- 19, died in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri today.

On the other hand, 34 cases were found in Darjeeling district in the past 24 hours, sources said. The SMC detected 23 cases, of which 15 were in areas falling in the district.

Fourteen cases have been traced in Naxalbari, 12 in Matigara, and one case in Kharibari blocks.Twelve cases were found in Sukhia Pokhari and two in Darjeeling Municipality Sources said 77 patients had been discharged and had completed their home isolation.

Alipurduar Cooch Behar positive case rate up

SNS, SILIGURI, 8 SEPTEMBER 2020: The rate of Covid-I9 cases in Alipurduar and Cooch Behar districts has gone up in between 29 August and 4 September, according to the weekly data available with the health department.

The data suggests that Alipurduar recorded 11.4 percent positive cases, while the rate in Conch Behar district was 5.8 percent. Alipurduar district has so far detected more than 3000 Covid-19 cases, which the figure for Cooch Behar is a round 4000.

Health officials, however, said the rate was down in other north Bengal districts during the same period. "The study is based on test results," said a senior health department official. Sources said that the graph of positive rate in West Midnapore and Purulia also registered a rise with 12.4 and 3.8 percent, respectively. On the other hand, officials said the number of cases in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area had come down.

"During the first week of August, 342 cases were recorded in the corporation area, and it has gone down to 319 in the first week of September. When 36 persons tested positive died at different health facilities in Siliguri in the first week of August, only 12 died in the first week of September," said an official. Meanwhile, 65 persons were tested positive for Covid-19 in Alipurduar today.

Malda dip: Officials hopeful, but cautious

AVIJIT ROY, SNS, MALDA, 8 SEPTEMBER 2020: A continuous dip in the number of new Covid-19 infections in the last fortnight in Malda has left the district administration hopeful, while, however, not letting its guard down.

According to officials, they should still tread with caution and follow all the guidelines issued by the government in fighting the pandemic, as they say any negligence may lead to the situation changing in no time. For the past several days, the number of daily cases of Covid-19 has remained below the 50 mark. only 16 new cases were detected out of the 347 samples tested at the VRDL in the Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) last night.The statehealth bulletin today showed only 260 active cases in the district.

Officials are happy about the dip, especially at a time when people in Malda still do not follow the basic norms like wearing masks, maintaining social distance and spitting or sneezing around.

"The district headquarters, English Bazaar, is also full of people who paint the walls and streets with their spit. However, given all these negative points, what emerges as a light at the end of the tunnel is the lower rate of infection for around 15 days now" a health official said.

Government statistics in the last 15 days (24 August to 7 September) show 659 new Covid cases in Malda with nine deaths. "It may he noted here that some of these cases happened outside the district, but they were included in the government data for the district for their registration of their hometown with the testing agencies," the official said.

Almost 15,000 RT-PCR tests were conducted in the VRDL in the MMCH in these days with an average of almost a thousand per day, while several others also underwent the rapid antigen tests.

"Presently, almost 2000 tests are being conducted in Malda in a day, both RT-PCR and rapid antigen. We are hopeful, as the numbers have remained very low. However, we are not taking chances and not going for relaxations.

We are uying to find out how exactly there has been a dip in the cases, as, on the other hand, the number of tests has gone up. Our target is to detect each and every single Covid case to eradicate these from its root," the Chief Medical Officer of health in Malda, Dr Bhushan Chakrabarty, said.

People in general, on the other hand, have started to heave a shy of relief, while the Malda district chamber of commerce has decided to keep the shops open as usual.

District Magistrate Rajarshi Mitra too said they were not letting their guard down.

"Them is no doubt that the figures are very encouraging, but we have not started taking things lightly as yet. The entire situation is now under observation and we are laying more and more stress on tests, preferably RT-PCR. Rapid antigen tests will also he done in more numbers so that all positive cases can be detected. I also urge the people to follow the pandemic guidelines strictly" he said.