A medical officer of the regional blood transfusion centre at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH), who had tested positive for Covid-19, died in a private nursing home in Siliguri today.

Spike in Covid cases

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Darjeeling district witnessed a single-day spike in new Covid-19 infections with 132 cases today. After a decline in the number of cases in the past few days, the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area registered 84 cases, of which 58 were in civic body areas falling in Darjeeling district, sources said.

Seventeen cases were found in Naxalbari, 16 in Matigara, four at Kharibari and two cases in Phansidewa blocks in the plains.

Fourteen cases were traced in Sukhia Pokhari, eight in Darjeeling Municipality, six in Pulbazaar, five in Kurseong Municipality, one in Mirik Sub Division, and one case at Sukna.

Health department officials said 74 patients had been discharged from hospitals and some completed their home isolation today.

Recovery rate rises, death rate down

Darjeeling district chief medical officer of health Dr Pralay Acharya said the recovery rate of Covid-19 patients in the district was around 8687 percent, while the mortality rate was 1.3 percent. Dr Acharya said the bed occupancy rate in the two dedicated hospitals for Covid-19 had come down below 50 percent.

“Rapid antigen tests helped us in early detection of the disease, resulting in the dip in the mortality rate. We are planning to increase the rapid tests,” he said on the sidelines of the Patient Welfare Committee meeting at the Siliguri District Hospital today.

South Dinajpur sees spike in new cases

The rate of Covid-19 infection in South Dinajpur has started to rise again. A total of 67 persons tested positive for the virus in the district on Thursday night. According to health department sources, 49 positive reports came from the Malda Medical College, while the remaining tested positive in antigen and TrueNat tests in the Balurghat hospital.

With this, the total number of Covid cases in the district has gone up to 3889. A total of 49 patients were discharged from different Covid safe houses and hospitals in the district today, sources said.

A total of 3491 patients in the district have recovered so far, sources said. Six of the new cases are from Balurghat town and 12 from the Balurghat block.

Malda dip continues

Meanwhile, Malda continued to report a decrease in the number of Covid cases. Thirty new cases were detected (16 through RT-PCR and 14 through rapid antigen tests) today. Seven of the new cases are from areas under the English Bazaar Municipality, sources said.

The total number of cases in the district has gone up to almost 5100, with 39 deaths and around 450 active cases, sources said.