A deputy magistrate in Durgapur tested Covid-19 positive on Friday.

Sources said the WBCS (executive) officer was suffering from fever and fell ill at his office on Thursday. He was admitted to a private hospital where his swab sample was collected and the test report arrived on Friday.

The officer has been shifted to Sanaka Covid Hospital here. This is the first such incident of a senior government officer testing positive for coronavirus in West Burdwan.

Shortly after the officer was tested positive, the district administration sealed and sanitised the three-storeyed administrative building that also houses the offices of the additional chief judicial magistrate and the additional district judge court.

Altogether, 50 government employees, including the SDO of Durgapur Anirban Koley have been sent to compulsory home quarantine till Monday.

“All the quarantined employees, including myself, have undergone test for Covid-19. We will remain in self-isolation till the reports come. The administrative office will also remain closed till Monday,” said Koley.

Asked whether the court would remain shut for now, Koley said it would be decided by the law department and the judges.