Around nine persons who had tested positive for Covid-19 died in Siliguri in the past two days. In Darjeeling district, 104 persons were tested positive in the last 48 hours. The figure for the Darjeeling district part of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) was 74, sources said.

It is learnt that three persons, including two residents of Mainaguri in Jalpaiguri district, and a resident of Ward 41 in the SMC died at Dr Dhhang’s Hospital at Matigara, while two residents of Siliguri died in the Desun Hospital at Kawakhali. A 61-year-old resident of Pundibari in Cooch Behar died yesterday in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), where a resident of North Dinajpur district also died today.

A 70-year-old resident of Goghomali in Siliguri and a 56- year-old from Jalpaiguri district also died in Siliguri. Meanwhile, sources said 50 persons from Darjeeling district (42 in the SMC) were found to be infected in reports that were had yesterday. In the past 24 hours, 54 more persons in the district have been tested positive, while the SMC area recorded 32 cases, including areas under Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts, sources said.

Spike in South Dinajpur South Dinajpur district recorded its highest single-day spike in the number of Covid- 19 cases when it detected a whopping 198 patients in the past 24 hours. According to health department sources, the samples were collected on August 11, 12 and 13 and sent to the VRDL in the Malda Medical College for Covid test.

“A total of 179 positive reports came from there, while the remaining 18 were tested through the rapid antigen and TrueNat tests in the Balurghat district hospital,” sources said. While in the last Covid taskforce meeting on Friday, members had decided to lay more emphasis on village areas in their effort to stop infection from spreading there, but the latest figures show that 17 cases are from Balurghat rural areas and 18 from Balurghat Municipality.

The cases in Balurghat are from Nepalipara, Arya Samiti Para, Tridharapara, Congresspara, Raghunathpur, Uttar Chkabhavani, South Chakbhavani, Gitanjali Khari Para and Public Bus Stand, sources said. In Gangarampur, seven patients were detected in rural areas and 12 in the Gangarampur Municipality Wards like 10, 11, 12, 13, Barabazaar and Hospital More.

The number of patients also went up in Buniadpur with 10 infected there, while 11 cases are from Kushmandi, 17 from Kumarganj, eight from Hili, and 63 from Tapan. The total number of Covid cases in the district has now gone up to 2308, while more than 1620 patients have been released after treatment so far.

Meanwhile, one pregnant Covid patient gave birth to a male child in the Kumarganj rural hospital, where she was taken from a ‘safe house’ treatment facility after she complained of labour pain. “She has been shifted to a separate ward arranged for Covidpositive mothers. The district health department has arranged for safe and special wards for Covid-positive pregnant women in every hospital in the district,” a source at the Kumarganj hospital said.

“The newborn baby and the mother are healthy and safe,” the source added. “We have arranged for special wards for Covid-positive pregnant women in the district, where doctors pay special attention to the newborn babies as they stay with their mother. We will test the newborn baby if we notice any symptom, but usually there is no instance of infection of a newborn in the district,” the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr Sukumar Dey, said.

224 cases in two days in Malda Malda, on the other hand, saw 224 cases in the past two days. The total cases in the district has now gone up to almost 4000, with 20 deaths and around 1000 active cases. The worst hit in the fresh bout was Ratua-II block with 66 cases. English Bazaar Municipality reported 20, Manikchak 23, Gazole 25, and Habibpur 21 cases, among others.