Published: June 19, 2020 11:55:08 am
With the latest infections, the number of cases rose to 12,735.
The General Post Office (GPO) here shut down for two days, starting Thursday, after one of its employees tested positive for Covid-19. This came on a day the state government said 435 more people were found to be infected, and the toll rose by 12 to 518.
The GPO employee found Covid-19-positive is a 50-year-old clerk in the organisation’s savings bank section. A resident of Basirhat in North 24 Parganas district, he underwent a test on June 7 after developing high fever and sore throat. At least seven of his colleagues, including four who had travelled with him in an office vehicle on June 4, have been asked to isolate themselves at home.
“Today, the first round of a sanitisation programme was held, and the second round will be held tomorrow [Friday],” said a senior GPO official.
With the latest infections, the number of cases rose to 12,735. Most of the latest cases, 180, were detected in Kolkata, followed by 61 in North 24 Parganas, 57 in Howrah, and 29 in South 24 Parganas.
According to sources in the health department, at least 16 slum dwellers in Kolkata’s Bagbazar area have tested positive. They have been sent to a quarantine centre on the outskirts of the city. People who came in contact with the patients, including family members, have been sent to another isolation unit in Howrah, and local people have been advised to quarantine themselves in their homes in accordance with the rules applicable to all containment zones.
The slum, beside the Bagbazar Women’s College, has around 1,000 residents. At least 45 people in the area had been running a temperature since the start of the month, according to a source, and their swab samples were collected on June 6. State Health Secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam said necessary sanitisation measures had been initiated in the locality.
Meanwhile, according to the health bulletin, in which figures are updated till 9 am, eight of the 12 latest deaths occurred in Kolkata, two in Howrah, and one each in Hooghly and South 24 Parganas. The health department said 468 people were discharged from hospitals in 24 hours, taking the number of recovered patients to 7,001 and the discharge rate to 54.97%. The active case count fell for the fifth straight day, settling at 5,216.
The government said 9,315 samples were examined in 24 hours, pushing up the cumulative number of specimens examined to 3,70,291. The test positivity rate continued its upward curve, rising marginally 3.44%.
According to the health department, 72,150 migrant returnees are currently in 8,228 special centres, while 10,110 others are in government quarantine, and 1,41,593 people remain isolated at home.
—With PTI inputs
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Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/kolkata/kolkata-clerk-tests-positive-gpo-shuts-for-two-days-for-sanitisation-6466197/
