Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

Bengal CM, guv spar over Covid figures

The day also saw chief minister Mamata Banerjee sending a 13-page letter to Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar in response to his letters, accusing him of “dreaming of a dyarchy in the state”.

Bengal Covid-19 data shows huge mismatch as letter stokes fresh controversy

The controversy comes amid the Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress (TMC) government battling charges of fudging Covid-19 data, as alleged by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Left parties.

Covid-19 +ve woman gives birth, breastfeeds baby wearing gloves, masks, PPE

She lost her father-in-law to Covid-19, the day she herself tested positive. Her brother in-law, who too, had tested positive, is still in hospital. The nursing staff and doctors named the child Armaan, which in Arabic, means hope.

Bengal’s controversial Covid-19 death audit committee virtually shelved

New Delhi-based ICMR is the nodal body for Covid-19 treatment and procedures in India. The state government will henceforth declare Covid-19 deaths as per the death certificates, which will mention the immediate cause of death, antecedent cause of death and underlying cause of death.

Will follow ICMR norms to audit deaths: West Bengal

New Delhi-based ICMR, India’s apex medical research organisation, is deciding on Covid-19 procedures, protocols and treatments.

States to issue zone-specific norms for extended lockdown

The home ministry’s guidelines prescribe the range of activities allowed in containment areas, and red, orange and green zones.

105 Covid patients dead in West Bengal

This new figure of fatalities was released six days after the state administration said 57 persons who tested positive for Covid-19 had died, and attributed 18 of the deaths to the disease and 39 to “severe co-morbidity.”

105 Covid patients dead in W Bengal

Bengal man dies day after Covid-19 negative result

A health department official, who did not want to be named, said all members of the family would now be tested for coronavirus.

Man tests covid-19 negative, then positive, called back to hospital. He dies

The deceased’s son has alleged gross negligence, pointing out that after returning home and the assurance of having tested negative, his father had spent time with his granddaughters, one of whom is a seven-month-old baby.

Covid-19 cases spike in West Bengal, docs say testing rate too low

Only four of Bengal’s 23 districts are in the red zone -- areas where no activity is allowed -- and, according to chief secretay Rajiva Sinha, 80% of the Covid-19 cases detected in the state are in the capital Kolkata.

Bengal’s Covid-19 graph shows sharp spike, cases more than double in 1 week

The state has recorded 696 positive cases till April 27, of which 504 are active cases.

Man, 75, cycles 320 km to reach home. Seeks quarantine after villagers object

During the journey, the man had no mask but kept his face covered with a gamchcha

In Bengal Covid-19 crisis, guv Dhankhar and CM Mamata caught in letter wars

The governor was scathing in his appraisal of the chief minister’s actions during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bengal CM, guv trade barbs over inspections

The tussle came even as the state recorded 58 new cases on Thursday and two central teams visited hospitals and quarantine centers in north and south Bengal.

11 health workers test Covid-19 positive at Kolkata Medical College

The MBBS interns at the hospital issued a media statement on Monday and, on Tuesday it was the turn of the junior doctors to bring the same charges against the authorities. Medical College, Kolkata, is one of the premiere state-run hospitals in the city.

Covid-19: 50 jute mills ask for permission to operate, only 5 get it in West Bengal

With the harvest season nearing, the states as well as the Food Corporation of India are now looking up to Bengal for jute sacks. Most of these mills are in Covid-19 hotspots in West Bengal.

‘Unilateral decision’ to send team ‘undesirable’; their movement wouldn’t be allowed: Mamata tells PM Modi

Chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said that the state would not allow the central team to move freely until their intention became clear to the state administration

‘We shut ourselves out’: 9 members of a family recover from Covid-19

On March 30, a 49-year-old woman died due to Covid-19 at the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital, two days after she was detected as being positive for coronavirus. On testing the other members of her family: nine of them were found to be positive.

Amid lockdown, Bengal governor and government lock horns over ‘PDS scam’

Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar has claimed that supplies were not reaching the needy and that the PDS has been hijacked by Trinamool Congress while the people are getting the food grains in lesser quantity and of poor quality.

Bengal: Second BJP MP booked under Disaster Act

In Bengal, another BJP MP booked under Disaster Management Act; guv fumes

Significantly on Friday, Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar lashed out at the Mamata Banerjee administration for obstructing parliamentarians from carrying out their duties.

‘Community transmission threat looms, no crowding in markets’: Bengal CM

Over the last three days, 63 persons tested positive for novel coronavirus infection. The state’s cumulative figure of Covid-19 positive cases rose from 69 on April 4 to 255 on April 16, according to the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

Bengal BJP MP booked under Disaster Management Act, another alleges ‘house arrest’

Another MP, Alipurduars’ John Barla, has written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah alleging that he has been put under ‘house arrest’ by the district administration.

Kolkata slum emerges as a Covid-19 hotspot with six new coronavirus cases

The administration ‘sealed’ the slum on Tuesday – putting up barricades at all entry points – besides launching a door-to-door survey on Thursday.

Lockdown 2.0: Bengal allows jute mills to operate with 15% labour, industry says unsustainable

The decision came after Bengal received requests from Centre, Maharashtra and Telangana to avert shortfall of gunny bags in procurement season.

West Bengal: Controversy over Covid-19 toll, CPM claims 30 deaths, govt says 7

The daily Ganashakti, the CPI-M’s Bengali mouthpiece, cited “sources” in the health administration and reported on its front page that 30 people had died in the state after being infected by the coronavirus.

Health experts slam Bengal testing model

The state recorded its first Covid-19 positive case on March 17, but it was only last week that the administration started ‘sealing’ some localities after identifying them as ‘high-risk spots’.

Kolkata sex workers: Real threat lies after the lockdown is lifted

DMSC, the biggest NGO working with Bengal’s sex workers has about 65,000 members spread across 50 red-light areas in the state. It has launched a social media campaign to raise money so that sex workers can be supported even after the lockdown and avoid having to accept customers.

Coronavirus in India: New infections raise fear of community spread in states

Covid-19: The Union health ministry has dismissed speculation about community transmission, where the source of the disease is not known, but many experts have pointed to cases where authorities have failed to trace the source of the infection.