Covid-19 continues to spread its fangs in the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) in Siliguri, where 11 more doctors, nursing staff and health workers were tested positive for the disease.
Also, around 16 positive cases were detected in different wards under the Siliguri Municipal Corporation (SMC) today.
Five positive cases were detected in a family in Ward 46, while cases were found in other wards like 7, 8, and 45 too, sources said. Four persons from Malutar at Mahanadi in Kurseong sub-division and a girl from Tung have also tested positive for the novel coronavirus, sources said.
NBMCH sources said three doctors, four nursing staff and four health workers were tested positive. Medical personnel at the principal health care institute in the region are being infected every day, and this fact has landed the authorities there into a tight situation.
NBMCH Principal Prof Prabir Kumar Deb confirmed that some more health personnel were tested positive. Meanwhile, at the SMC, it is learnt that the five family members of Ward 46 had come in contact with a Covid patient earlier. According to sources at the civic body, nine cases were new, while seven persons were tested positive after they came in contact with Covid19 patents in Wards 46, 3 and 8.
“Five members of a family at Champasari have been infected, and members of one family in Ward 43, two from two families in Wards 1 and 3 are among the cases,” said an official.
University closes library The North Bengal University (NBU) closed its library section today after a staff, whose wife tested positive for Covid19 yesterday, worked there until yesterday. The wife of the technical assistant of the library is a nursing staff of the NBMCH.
Of the three NBMCH health personnel, two nursing staff were found carrying the virus yesterday. Though the turnout at the university is low, with students and teachers not going there because of the lockdown and the pandemic, the development has left the authorities worried. It is learnt that the staff informed the authorities over the phone today that he would be undergoing Covid tests as his wife was tested positive.
“Anyone with symptoms such as fever, cough and cold need not work, and when his wife has been tested positive, he should have been more careful by not being here,” said an NBU official.
Administrative work at the NBU resumed on Monday with 70 percent workforce.
“We have closed the library for the time being. It will reopen following proper santisation. But everyone should be responsible,” said the NBU Registrar, Dr Dilip Kumar Sarkar.
The authorities have asked employees, around 10-11 of them, who went to the library yesterday to remain in isolation for the next 14 days. Meanwhile, in Malda, two more migrant workers were found positive for the virus in tests conducted at the Malda Medical College and Hospital laboratory yesterday.
The fresh cases have taken the number of affected to 232 in the district. Sources said that the two hailed from Chanchal-I block. A total of 23306 samples have been tested in the VRDL in the MMCH so far, out of which 386 have been found positive. It is also learnt that the backlog of tests has come down to 516.