Eighty new coronavirus positive cases were reported in north Bengal on Friday, mostly from the districts of Malda and North Dinajpur.

A coronavirus positive patient died in north Bengal on Friday.

In North Dinajpur, 25 persons tested positive for Covid-19. All of them are residents of Islampur subdivision, said sources. Also in Malda, 44 new cases have been detected and of them, 27 are from Englishbazar block, while the remaining are from eight other blocks of the district.

In Siliguri, a 58-year-old man from ward 45 of the city died on Friday. He had been under treatment at the private nursing home marked for suspected Covid-19 patients in Siliguri since June 3.

“His test report, where it was mentioned that he had been infected with coronavirus, reached the authorities at the hospital on Friday morning soon after he had demised,” said a source.

Six others, who are from different areas of the Siliguri subdivision, have tested positive for Covid-19.

They include a woman from Debidanga.

A youth from Kharibari block, two patients from Phansidewa block and three patients from different wards of Siliguri are also among them.

Two patients, who are from Tufanganj (in Cooch Behar) and Islampur (in North Dinajpur) and were under treatment at the hospital here with suspected symptoms, have also tested positive.

In Alipurduar district, a team comprising experts from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) visited the district to collect blood samples.

“They have collected as many as 400 blood samples from 10 different areas of the district to examine the Covid Immunoglobulin G ( antibody). On Friday, the samples were sent to Chennai for the tests,” said an official in the district health department.

So far, 20 persons have been tested corona positive in the district.

With the number of cases on the rise, the health department has installed two new machines, one each at the testing labs in North Bengal Medical College & Hospital and Malda Medical College & Hospital.

“These new machines will help to test more swab samples in a day. Also, a second virologist has been deputed at the lab in Malda,” said a source.