South Dinajpur today recorded its highest single-day spike in Covid-19 cases. A total of 120 new cases were detected in RT-PCR tests conducted in the Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH), while 20 more were tested positive through the TrueNat machine tests, sources said.

According to health department sources, swab samples were collected on August 2 and 3 and sent to the VRDL in the MMCH for tests.

Of the 120 cases tested positive in the Malda lab, 10 are from the Balurghat municipality area–Shantik Colony, AK Gopalan Colony, Chhinnamasta, Narayanpur and Municipality-Bus Stand.

A total of 33 are from Kushmandi, seven from Banshihari and one from Buniadpur.

Thirteen cases are from Gangarampur municipality area, while 16 are from rural areas under Gangarampur, and one from Harirampur. Twenty of the new cases are from in Kumarganj and 19 from Tapan.

“With the fresh cases, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the district has gone up to 1629,while 1084 patients have already recovered and returned home,” an official source said.

In Siliguri, four persons who had tested positive for Covid-19 died at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH). Test reports of a person, who died on 4 August, showed that he was infected.

According to sources, an 86- year-old resident of Deshbandhu Para died today. It is learnt that he had comorbidities like hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. A 35-year-old person of Naxalbari who died also had other illnesses like chronic myeloid leukaemia.

A 75-year-old resident of Sukanta Pally in Siliguri died on 4 August, and his swab samples were collected for tests.The reports today confirmed he had severe Covid pneumonia.

A 34-year-old Kishanganj (Bihar) resident, who died at the NBMCH, was admitted there yesterday, sources said.

Meanwhile, a senior IPS officer was tested positive for the virus in Siliguri today.

On the other hand, 27 persons were tested positive for the virus in the Siliguri Municipal Corporation area today.

While 17 of the cases are from Wards in Darjeeling district, 10 are from the Jalpaiguri district part of the civic body.

Darjeeling district officials said 35 cases were detected in the district, including 17 in the SMC, three in Naxalbari, 10 in Matigara, four in Kurseong Municipality and one in Sukna.

In Kurseong, one of the four cases is from Chandbari Ward- 20, while two are from the Springside Tea Estate, sources said. Also in Kurseong, one active staff of the Kurseong subdivisional hospital, who is also the Social Welfare Officer there has tested positive for the virus. Sources said he was working on the front-lines in the hospital’s COVID-19 management ever since the pandemic began to hit the hills.

He said today that he started feeling “uncomfortable,” with body ache and fever, since yesterday. A rapid antigen test conducted at the hospital this morning showed that he was infected. He is now undergoing treatment in Dr Chhang’s Covid hospital in Siliguri.

“Also, 32 patients have been discharged after recovery, including those in home isolation,”aDarjeeling district official said.

65 fresh Covid-19 cases in Malda

In Malda, 65 fresh cases were detected in tests conducted at the MMCH last night, taking the number of total affected to 2800 in the district.

The list of freshly infected persons showed 20 from areas under the English Bazaar Municipality, 12 from Ratua- II, 11 from Harishchandrapur,and 10 from Chanchal-I, among other places.

Among the cases, 55 were tested through the RT-PCR system at the VRDL, while the other 10 were found through rapidantigen tests, sources said.