Four Siliguri residents, who had tested positive for Covid-19, have died in the past 24 hours. A 35-year-old resident of Bagdogra died in the Desun (Covid) Hospital at Kawakhali today, while a 65- year-old resident of Santoshi Nagar died in the respiratory intensive care unit (RICU) of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) last night.

An 80- year-old resident of Naxalbari and an 82-year-old person from Haider Para also died in the RICU, sources said. Officials, meanwhile, said 66 new cases were detected in Darjeeling district, including 23 in the SMC, 14 in Naxalbari, six in Matigara, nine in Darjeeling Municipality, two in Phansidewa, four in Kharibari, six in Bijanbari, and two in Sukna. A total of 57 patients were also discharged after recovery.

SMC today saw 27 cases, including in areas under Jalpaiguri district.

NBMCH Junior doctors protest:

Junior doctors and house staff today protested against the lack of infrastructure for treatment of suspected Covid19 patients in isolation wards of the NBMCH. Patients with symptoms of Covid-19 like severe acute respiratory infection, and influenza like illness are treated in the NBMCH wards.

Alleging lack of infrastructure, the junior doctors and house staff associated with the NBMCH unit of the All India Democratic Students’ Organisation (AIDSO) further said there were no restrictions of the movement of family members or relatives of patients in the isolation wards.

“There has been utter negligence on the part of the NBMCH authorities. The isolation of patients is not maintained. How can they be allowed inside isolation wards? One day, I even saw a patient come out of the ward and he removed the mask. When I raised objections, he argued with me. Later, the patient was tested positive for Covid-19,” said a junior doctor who performs duty in the isolation wards.

They further said there were inadequate ventilators for patients, no CT scan machine, and lack of attendants for regular monitoring of patients in isolation wards.

53 new cases in South Dinajpur

In South Dinajpur district, 53 new cases of Covid19 have been detected. According to the health department, the swab samples were collected on August 3 and 4 and sent to the Malda Medical College for tests. “Thirty-three samples have tested positive. The remaining 20 have tested positive in the rapid antigen and TrueNat tests in the Balurghat hospital,” a source said.

In reports that came in from Malda, four persons were infected in Balurghat town, two in Balurghat block, one in Harirampur, seven in Hili block, seven in Tapan, three in Gangarampur town, three in Bangshihari block and six in the Kushmandi block. “Two people from Shanti Colony in Balurghat town, one person from Gopalan Colony and one person from Kabitirtha Para have been infected,” the source said, adding that most of the patients are asymptomatic.

77 in Malda

In Malda, 77 samples were tested positive for Covid-19 in RT-PCR tests conducted in the MMCH last night. However, no positive case was found among the 29 samples that underwent rapid antigen tests. Among the fresh cases are 23 from Gazole and 13 from English Bazaar. “Other blocks like Habibpur, Old Malda, Harishchandrapur, Manikchak, Ratua-I, Kaliachak-II, and Chanchal-I and II also had positive cases,” sources said. The district is also gearing up for the statewide total lockdown tomorrow, while authorities held a campaigning programme for the same through loudspeakers today