Kolkata: The West Bengal Government has decided to impose a complete lockdown in the state for two days every week amid a spike in COVID-19 cases. This week, the lockdown will be in place on Thursday and Saturday. This is in addition to the already enforced broad based lockdown inside containment zones.
The Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay admitted that community transmission of COVID-19 has been recorded in a few areas in the state. The decision was taken following a high-level meeting, chaired by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, at the state secretariat, Home Secretary said.
“There will be a two-day complete lockdown every week from this week. In the current week, on Thursday and Saturday, the state government imposes, in addition to running broad based containment zone approach, a complete lockdown all over the state,” State Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.
The West Bengal Government is also planning to set up COVID-19 units at every private and state-run hospital, amid the relentless surge in the number of coronavirus cases. A directive to improve infrastructure and accommodate separate units for COVID-19 patients has already been issued to all the state-run hospitals.
According to a bulletin released by the state health department, the number of active cases in the state is at 16,492.