The steady rise in the number of coronavirus cases across the country has prompted officials in all eight districts of north Bengal to take preparations to combat the pandemic and identify new accommodations where suspected patients can be quarantined.

A number of restrictions have been placed by different authorities — right from panchayats to trade bodies — in the region to prevent the spread of the pathogen. Till Friday, not a single positive case has been detected in north Bengal.

In all the eight districts, the administration is opening helpdesk and control rooms to monitor the situation closely and extend help to any person who has symptoms of Covid-19.

At Salugara near Siliguri, a quarantine centre with 500 beds has been planned by the Centre, said Ramendranath Pramanik, the chief medical officer of health, Jalpaiguri.

“This facility has been planned for those who are arriving by flights and has a foreign travel history or show symptoms. There are also plans to open up such centres at Raninagar and Sulkapara (in the Nagrakata block) of the district,” he said.

Salugara is in Jalpaiguri district.

A quarantine centre was opened at the regional disaster management centre in Naxalbari block, Siliguri. Such new facilities are coming up at old wings of private nursing homes, rural hospitals, maternity homes run by municipalities and at some other buildings in the districts of Cooch Behar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Alipurduar.

The infection has also made thousands of migrant workers head for their homes. In north Bengal, such people are coming from states like Maharashtra, Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan and south India.

Some panchayats in the Jalpaiguri Sadar block formed teams of villagers to keep a watch on the entry of migrant workers.

“There are at least four panchayats where the residents have been informed that if any of their family members who works in other states and want to return home, they should immediately inform him or her that they should first go to the hospital, get themselves screened and then enter the village. This has been done to avoid the spread of the infection. We have formed teams who are keeping a watch so that no such person enters the villages,” said Subhash Chanda, the deputy of Kharia panchayat.

At Bidhannagar in Darjeeling district, local people are circulating a message in social media with a plea to people to inform police if any outsider reaches.

In Malda, some trade bodies made it mandatory for people to clean their hands and wear masks before they enter prominent markets.

Traders are providing the mask and hand sanitizer all visitors the markets.

“The state is making all necessary preparations and the chief minister is consistently urging people to maintain precautions. We are keeping a close watch over the situation and want people to follow the guidelines and directives to curb the infection,” said state tourism minister Gautam Deb.