Community transmission recorded in a few areas in West Bengal, says govt

"There will be a two-day complete lockdown every week. This week, the total lockdown will be in force on Thursday and Saturday. Next week, the shutdown will be clamped on Wednesday (July 29)," the Home Secretary said.

West Bengal coronavirus lockdown, West Bengal containment zones, Bengal containment zones, Bengal coronavirus lockdown, India news, Indian Express

Commuters with face masks wait in a queue at a bus station in Kolkata, India, Friday, July 17, 2020. (AP Photo/Bikas Das)

Stating that community transmission of Covid-19 had been recorded in a few areas in West Bengal, the Mamata Banerjee government on Monday announced a complete lockdown across the state for two days every week amid a surge in cases. Follow coronavirus pandemic LIVE updates

“There are a few places in the state where community transmission of COVID-19 has been detected. After talking to experts, doctors, enforcement authorities, and the police, we have decided to impose complete lockdown for two days every week in the entire state to break the chain (of transmission),” Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said while addressing a press conference.

The decision was taken following a high-level meeting that was chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at the state secretariat.

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“There will be a two-day complete lockdown every week. This week, the total lockdown will be in force on Thursday and Saturday. Next week, the shutdown will be clamped on Wednesday (July 29),” Bandyopadhyay said.

All offices, transport services will be shut down on those two days. The government has also announced that all banks would remain closed on Saturday and Sunday. “The banks will maintain operations five days a week. Customer services will be provided on These working days from 10:00 am till 2.00 pm only,” the Home Secretary said.

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The government is also planning to set up COVID-19 units at every private and state-run hospital. The government is also planning to procure at least 19 more Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test kits as it wants to ensure that at least 25,000 tests are carried out every day.

“The manner in which COVID-19 cases are increasing in West Bengal is quite concerning. To counter the spread, the best way is to conduct more tests and improve infrastructure…We have planned to set up COVID-19 units at all the state-run and private hospitals in Bengal,” news agency PTI reported quoting government officials. In the first phase, the units will be set up in the state general hospitals of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Purba and Paschim Medinipore districts.

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After Kerala, West Bengal is the second state to admit community transmission of COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Indian Medical Association also added that community transmission has started in the country. However, the central government is yet to confirm that.

Atri Mitra

Atri Mitra is a Special Correspondent of The Indian Express with more than 20 years of experience in reporting from West Bengal, Bihar and the North-East. He has been covering administration and political news for more than ten years and has a keen interest in political development in West Bengal. Atri holds a Master degree in Economics from Rabindrabharati University and Bachelor's degree from Calcutta University. He is also an alumnus of St. Xavier's, Kolkata and Ramakrishna Mission Asrama, Narendrapur. He started his career with leading vernacular daily the Anandabazar Patrika, and worked there for more than fifteen years. He worked as Bihar correspondent for more than three years for Anandabazar Patrika. He covered the 2009 Lok Sabha election and 2010 assembly elections. He also worked with News18-Bangla and covered the Bihar Lok Sabha election in 2019. ... Read More

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