On the 29th of July, West Bengal witnessed a strict one day lockdown.
The West Bengal Government took the decision of biweekly lockdown as a precautionary measure to control the spread of the Novel Coronavirus.
This is the third one day lockdown, in the past few days. The last lockdown was imposed on the 25th of July.
The lockdown was imposed in the wake of the rise in the cases of the Novel Coronavirus. On the 29th of July, the State Government confirmed 2,134 fresh cases of the COVID-19 infection, taking the total to 62,964.
Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of West Bengal, announced the lockdown to be imposed on 7 different days in August.
Initially, the biweekly lockdown was till the 31st of July. However, due to the worsening situation, Ms. Banerjee, on the 28th of July, extended the lockdown till the 31st of August.
All shops are shut, buses and transportation are not allowed, offices are closed and flight services are also suspended for the day.
Barricades were put in various parts of the State to stop people from venturing out of their houses.
The new twice a week lockdown would remain in effect from 6:00 A.M., to 10:00 P.M.
The lockdown would be on 7 days, the 5th of August, 8th of August, 16th of August, 17th of August, 23rd of August, 24th and 31st of August.
Ms. Banerjee, said, “The biweekly lockdown will be implemented mostly on Saturdays and Sundays. But since festivals like Eid as also Independence Day are happening on Saturdays, lockdown will be enforced on some other day.”
However, during the lockdown, below mentioned activities and services would be functioning:
Health services including the movement of health personnel/patients by public and private transport
Medicine shops and pharmacies
Law and order, courts, correctional services, fire and emergency services
Electricity, water and conservancy services
Continuous process industries and Industries with in house workers
Agriculture operations; Tea Garden operations in the field
Intrastate and interstate movement of goods
E Commerce; Capital and debt market services as notified by SEBI
The State Government also issued a few helpline numbers–1800313444222, 033 23412600; for telemedicine–033 23576001; and 033 40902929 for the ambulance service.
West Bengal has a total of 62,964 cases of the Novel Coronavirus, of which 19,493 are active cases, 42,022 are recovered/discharged cases and 1,449 deceased.
Stay tuned for further updates.
