Debdatta Roy, the Deputy Magistrate at Chandannagar in Hooghly district of the Indian state of West Bengal – died on July 13, 2020 from Covid-19 complications.
The 33-year-old was admitted to Shramojibi Covid hospital in Sreerampur on July 12, 2020 evening. She died on July 13, 2020 morning, a first senior officer of Bengal government to have succumbed to the virus, media reports said.
Family claims she had been suffering from fever for the past few days, her Covid test along with her husband's came positive. Initially she and her husband, both had opted for home isolation. But later her condition began to deteriorate, she was hospitalised.
A 2011 batch WBCS executive, Debdatta had worked as BDO at Purulia. Later she was moved to Chandannagar as the Deputy Magistrate.
During the migrant inflow into the state, she had been at the forefront in managing them at their special quarantine Centre at Dankuni in Hooghly. She had manage the fooding and lodging of the migrant workers, had visited the quarantine Centre for administrative work. It is feared she could have been infected there.
She is survived by her husband and a four-year-old child. The department is shocked at the loss of the young officer. In Bengal there has been a massive spike in the number of cases over the past two weeks. In Hooghly district too, the numbers had been on the rise. So far 1528 people have been infected in Hooghly.