Another COVID-19 case reported in Bengal, count rises to 58

A person working at the Haldia

Dock Complex of the Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) has tested positive for novel coronavirus after returning from the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi, the KoPT said in a statement on Saturday.

The latest case has taken the total count of COVID-19 cases in West Bengal to 58.

"A person who is an employee of one of our contractors has tested positive for coronavirus in Haldia on April 2. He had returned from Nizamuddin on March 24. He might have visited the docks.

"After the Nizamuddin episode came to light, the man was tested by the Haldia Municipality. Due to the case, contract labourers have not come to the docks," the statement said.

 

Officers who might have come in contact with the COVID-19 patient have been quarantined and a massive sanitisation drive has been initiated in the dock complex, it said.

"However, the port staff is working and, with coordination of unions, we are able to maintain port operations and work in other plants," the statement said.

The West Bengal government has so far identified 65 people from the state who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi in March and quarantined 200 who came in contact with the attendees.

The process of identifying other attendees is on.

Of the 58 people who were affected by COVID-19 in the state, seven have died and 12 have been discharged from hospitals after they tested negative for coronavirus in subsequent tests.

However, the state government later said that reasons for the death of four of the seven deceased persons have "not been established yet".