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10 more migrant workers test Covid positive in Malda

A health team reached the village this morning and took the patient to the COVID hospital and sent the family members to a quarantine centre at Kushmandi, official sources said.

10 more migrant workers test Covid positive in Malda

Ten more migrant workers have been tested positive for Covid-19 in Malda, even as several shops reopened today, following the government guidelines for them to resume business.

The fresh test reports provided by the Malda Medical College and Hospital have taken the number of cases in district to 56 now.

The 10 new cases were found in HarishchandrapurI (five), Manikchak (two) and one each from English Bazaar, Kaliachak-I and Kaliachak-II.

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According to sources, 929 samples of throat swabs of migrant workers who arrived in the district recently were tested and that the 10 were found positive among them. The fresh cases have further spread panic among the people in the district, which was a green zone before the migrants arrived.

On the other hand, shops and markets reopened as per instructions issued by the district administration. Traders heaved a shy of relief as they said they can at least earn some money after the long lockdown the led them to suffer losses.

“However, at many places, social distancing and other norms are not being properly followed, and the chamber of commerce in Malda has initiated an enquiry into this,” sources said.

The president of the Malda chamber of commerce, Jayanta Kundu, said, “The traders had faced huge losses during the lockdown and could not earn profit during festivals like Poila Baisakh. The conditional opening of shops has given them some relief now. We will keep a close eye on traders violating the restriction orders.”

South Dinajpur gets one more case Meanwhile, in South Dinajpur, one more migrant worker has tested COVID-19 positive in Kushmandi block, taking the number of cases in the district to four. All the affected are migrant workers who returned to the district recently.

Sic family members of the fresh patient have been sent to a quarantine facility in Kushmandi, while 40 others have been asked to remain in strict home quarantine.

“On the other hand, more than 600 Covid tests from South Dinajpur are pending in Malda and Siliguri,” sources said.

Throat swabs are collected from all migrant labourers returning from Delhi, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Around 12000 such workers have come back and the returning trend is going on.

The test reports sent from Malda showed the fresh case in the Maligaon gram panchayat area under the Kushmandi block.

“The patient had returned from Haryana recently,” a health official said.

A health team reached the village this morning and took the patient to the COVID hospital and sent the family members to a quarantine centre at Kushmandi, official sources said.

“The district administration has made it compulsory for all migrant workers returning from other states to undergo proper screening, while it is also conducting 100 percent swab collection for those coming in from Maharashtra, Delhi, Gujarat. A master list of returnees is being prepared at the panchayat level too, with detailed data, which will help the health department locate migrant labourers,” sources said.

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