Five persons who had tested positive for Covid-19, including two Siliguri residents, have died in the past 24 hours.

A 71-year-old resident of Udham Singh Sarani died at the Desun Hospital at Kawakhali. She was admitted there on 3 August. A 66-yearold resident of Bhaktinagar in Ward 35 died at the Siliguri District Hospital, and the rapid antigen test confirmed he had Covid-19.

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Another 60-year-old person of Islampur in North Dinajpur district died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. Hospital sources said the patient had also been diagnosed of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia.

It is further learnt that two persons of Subhas Pally and Deshbandhu Para died at Dr Chhang’s Hospital at Matigara yesterday.

Meanwhile, 45 new cases of covid-19 have been registered in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area in the past 24 hours, sources said.

Officials also said that 71 cases have been freshly detected in Darjeeling district, including 30 in the SMC (Darjeeling part), 33 in Naxalbari, seven in Matigara and one in Kurseong.

“Among the 33 cases at Naxalbari, 28 are from Army establishments,” an official said. Sources said 33 patients have been discharged after being cured, including from home isolation, in Darjeeling district.

Total lockdown

Meanwhile, Siliguri witnessed a ‘complete’ lockdown today, the first day of the seven days of lockdown this month announced by the state government. Fewer people stepped out of their homes as compared to other days today.

The other bi-weekly lockdown days are 8 August (Saturday), 20 (Thursday), 21 (Friday), 27 (Thursday), 28 (Friday) and 31 (Monday), according to a state government notification.

The government has announced the lockdown in its efforts to contain the Covid-19 pandemic by stopping the spread of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19.

While police rounded up several people for violating the lockdown, most of the detained persons were BJP and Hinduvta wing activists as they took out processions to mark the ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Tension spread among Trinamul Congress and BJP activists over the issue at Balaka More.  BJP supporters shouted ‘Jay Shree Ram’ and zipped around the town in motorcycles in the evening.

Arrests were also made from Gurung Busty, where the supporters were celebrating the day. Police personnel were out on the roads and they stopped everyone passing by and sought explanations for their outing during the lockdown.

“The movement of vehicles was less today as compared to the other days of the lockdown,” a traffic policeman said.

108 new cases in South Dinajpur

In South Dinajpur district, 108 more coronavirus patients have been detected, sources said. While 84 of them were confirmed in tests conducted in the Malda Medical College and Hospital, the remaining 24 tested positive in the rapid antigen test and tests in the TrueNut machine at the Balurghat hospital.

Six of the fresh cases are from Balurghat town and eight from rural areas in the block. A total of 18 cases are from Harirampur, one from Gangarampur, 16 from Kumarganj and 35 from the Hili block.