West Bengal Lockdown West Bengal observing complete lockdown to break COVID-19 chain
Kolkata/UNI: Bengal once again wore a deserted look on Wednesday following statewide complete lockdown as part of the State Government's decision to impose bi-weekly lockdown till August-end to break the Covid-19 pandemic chain.
The State Government last night withdrew complete lockdown on August 2 and 9 following request and appeal from different quarters not to observe statewide lockdown on certain dates coinciding with festivals and important community occasions.
West Bengal has observed two complete shut downs last week to break the chain of the disease.
According to a State Home Department tweet, " After announcing the state-wide complete lockdown dates in the state the government has been receiving request and appeal from different quarters not to observe state-wide lockdown on certain dates coinciding with festivals and important community occasions."
" Respecting the sentiments of the people we are withdrawing complete lockdown announcement for 2 August and 9 August, " it said.
Earlier in a presser yesterday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced to extend bi-weekly lockdown till August-end to break the Covid chain, saying the state would
observe complete lockdown on August 02, 05, 08, 09, 16, 17, 23, 24 and 31.
Only the essential services will be allowed during the lockdown. Medical outlets will remain open. All the other shops will be shut for two days a week across the state.
All the government and private offices and commercial establishments will also be shut.
All the public and private transport will remain shut.
Eastern Railways has also cancelled the trains scheduled on July 29 and flights won't be allowed to operate in the state.
Petrol pumps are allowed to function on the days of complete lockdown.
The revised dates of complete lockdown are August 9: Sunday, August 16: Sunday, August 17: Monday, August 23: Sunday, August 24: Monday and August 31: Monday.
Banerjee also said lockdown as usual will remain in force till August 31, which was extended from July 31.
Meanwhile, Covid-19 toll in the state touched 1411 with 38 more deaths and the confirmed cases rose to 62,964 with 2134 new cases.
The count of discharged accounted for 42,022 with 2105 recovering till yesterday, while the discharge rate in the state increased to 66.74 per cent.
The count of active cases stood at 19,493.
Total number of samples tested accounted for 8,39,211 with 17,021 tested till Tuesday.
Ms Banerjee said 56 laboratories are presently functioning for sample testing in the state and added that 16,000 to 17,000 samples are being tested everyday.
She also informed that schools and colleges will remain closed till August 31, but the government might take a decision to reopen schools from September 5 and
was mulling to hold classes on alternate days before Durga Puja.
But the final decision will be taken only after reviewing the COVID-19 situation in August, she stated.
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