Three more die in Siliguri; 119 fresh cases in Darj dist

Health department officials have flagged concerns over a spike in Covid-19 cases in

Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts.

SNS, SILIGURI. 19 NOVEMBER 2020 : A resident of Jorethang in South Sikkim died in the designated hospital for Covid-19 patients at Matigara in Siliguri today. The 45-year-old woman had been suffering from acute respiratory distress syndrome and Covid-19 pneumonia, sources said.

A 60-year-old man from the Bhaktinagar area in Ward-35 in Siliguri died at another dedicated hospital for Covid patients at Kawakhali here today.

A 77-year-old woman from Kurseong in Darjeeling, who had been admitted in the hospital at Kawakhali yesterday, also died today, the sources said.

Darjeeling district today recorded a total of 119 fresh Covid-19 cases.

Sources said 39 of the new cases are from the Siliguri Municipal Corporation, four from Darjeeling Municipality, two from Kharibari, six from Sukna, 11 from Kurseong Municipality, 26 from Matigara, six from Mirik, 12 from Naxalbari, 11 from Phansidewa, one from Sukhia Pokhari and one from Takdah.

A total of 31 cases were separately found in the Jalpaiguri portion of the SMC.

Also today, 130 Covid patients either ended their home isolation period or they were discharged front hospitals, the sources said.

Meanwhile, health department officials have flagged concerns over a spike in Covid- 19 cases in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar districts.

Darjeeling district has crossed the 14,000 mark, followed by Jalpaiguti district with over 11,500 cases. Cooch Behar district has recorded mom than 10,000 cases so far, sources said.

The officials said the viral load among the people had increased manifold. The CT (cycle threshold) value in Covid patients is considered a key indicator of the viral load.

"One of the main reasons for this is the rise in the number of super spreaders, persons who transmit the infection to many others. Many such asymp tomat ic persons arc roaming around without undergoing Covid tests," said a health department official today.