Delhi-based Assamese scribe Nilakshi Bhattacharyya succumbs to COVID-19

NEW DELHI: Delhi-based Assamese journalist Nilakshi Bhattacharyya succumbed to COVID-19 at a private hospital here early this morning.

Bhattacharyya along with her husband Kalyan Barooah, also a journalist from Assam, tested COVID-19 positive around 15 days ago.

Both of them were admitted to a private hospital. They were reportedly suffering from major COVID related complications and later referred to a super speciality hospital having cardiovascular and pulmonology specialisation facilities.

However, they could not be shifted due to non-availability of such a hospital due to the COVID situation in Delhi.

Bhattacharyya was working with the Times group while her husband Barooah is the Delhi bureau chief of The Assam Tribune, a leading newspaper published from Assam.

Bhattacharyya, also known for her mountaineering achievements, has scaled Himalayan mountains on several occasions.

She was the founder member of ‘Explorers’, a mountaineering and adventure sports club.

She is survived by her husband and her only daughter pursuing her post-graduation.

Bhattacharyya is reportedly the second victim of COVID-19 from the media fraternity in Assam.

Earlier on April 26, another young journalist from the state, Aiyushman Dutta, died of COVID-19.

April 2021 has been the worst for journalists in India as the country has witnessed as many as 52 deaths among journalists in just 28 days.

This implies that on an average of two journalists have died everyday this month.

On the other hand, according to a study conducted by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies, a total of 101 journalists have died of COVID-19 during this period while 50 others have succumbed to the disease since January this year.

This has come as the country continues to see a new high in COVID-19 cases with over 3 lakh cases being reported every day over the past few days.

India created yet another grim record with 3.86 lakh new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours.

This takes the total number of COVID-19 cases in the country to 1,83,76,524 ever since the pandemic broke out in January.

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This is the highest ever single day spike in cases reported by any country so far.

The country has recorded more than 3 lakh COVID-19 cases for the eighth consecutive day.

On the other hand, the country also recorded 3,645 deaths in a day for the first time, taking the toll to 2,04,832.

Meanwhile, the number of active cases in India has crossed the 30-lakh mark.

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