This is an archive article published on May 13, 2021
Malda administration on alert over floating bodies ‘from UP & Bihar’
The state administration has issued directions to Malda District Magistrate Rajarshi Mitra that in the event, these should be “cremated properly and with due respect.”
Written by Atri Mitra
Kolkata | May 13, 2021 06:17 AM IST
2 min read
Police personnel oversee the burial of bodies that washed up on the banks of the Ganga in Buxar’s Chausa village. (PTI)
The Malda district administration on Wednesday started preparations for the possibility of dead bodies (of suspected Covid victims) from Bihar or Uttar Pradesh washing up in the district. The state administration has issued directions to Malda District Magistrate Rajarshi Mitra that in the event, these should be “cremated properly and with due respect.”
A senior official in the Malda district administration said, “There are chances of dead bodies washing up on the banks of the Ganga. We gave directions to the nearby blocks of Ganges Manikchak and Kaliachak 2 and 3 block to monitor round-the-clock for the dead bodies. We also alerted fishermen. They will also monitor the river banks. The district administration has started monitoring through 12 boats. We have told block officials and villagers that if they see any bodies, they should inform the local police stations.”
The state government also published detailed guidelines for children who are infected. The guidelines said, “Covid-19 infection in children is mostly mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic. Children are 5.8% of total covid positive patients in India. Covid-19 associated hospitalisation among children 8 per lakh population while 164.5 per lakh population in case of adults. ICU admission rate ranges from 8-20 per cent among hospitalised children.” The guidelines also directed when a child should be hospitalized and which care should be given to them. The guidelines also mentioned when or what management should be taken to care a children infected by Covid-19. They also suggested the doses of Remdisivir in case of severely infected child patients.
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Meanwhile, in the past 24 hours, 135 persons died of Covid in West Bengal, taking the total death toll to 12,728. A total of 20,377 persons tested positive in the past 24 hours.
On Wednesday the cumulative number of discharged persons became 9,11,705. The recovery rate also has increased to 86.57 per cent.
With the caseload 20377, today the total number of cases in West Bengal increased to 10,53,117.
Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal.
Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur.
He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More