Twelve new coronavirus positive cases were reported in north Bengal in the past 24 hours, senior health department officials said on Monday.

Of the new patients, eight are from Malda district, while two each are from Siliguri and North Dinajpur district.

The new patients increased the number of Covid-19 cases to 34 in Malda and to 11 in the neighbouring North Dinajpur district.

In Siliguri, this is the first time that two persons have tested positive for the pathogen — at Babupara and Dangipara — in which the source of the contagion is not known.

“This is the first time that two standalone cases have been reported in Siliguri. Both have been admitted to the Covid-19 hospital at Himachal Bihar and their families have been sent in quarantine. We are keeping a watch on the area where they stay,” said a health official.

While one of the new patients has a travel history, the other one is a fruit seller and didn’t take any journey recently.

Earlier, Covid-19 cases had been reported at three other localities in and around Siliguri. But they had come in contact with known coronavirus patients.

While some of them were relatives of a woman from Kalimpong who had died from the infection, others were two nurses, family members of one of them and a doctor posted.

In Malda, all the eight who have been tested positive are migrant workers. Five of them are residents of Manikchak, while the remaining three are from Kaliachak 2, Chanchal 2 and Harishchandrapur 1 blocks.

In Alipurduar, a driver who had recently come from Calcutta to deliver medicines to the district hospital has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Although he returned to Calcutta the following day, his swab sample had been collected for tests.

The store at the hospital where he had entered has been sanitised. Also, all the employees on duty in the store have been sent in quarantine.