Tight curbs again in West Bengal till January 15

Kolkata: West Bengal is going under fresh lockdown-like curbs from Monday till January 15 as the daily spike in Covid-19 cases crossed 4,500 mark in the new year.

On Sunday state chief secretary HK Dwiwedi announced the closure of academic activities in schools, colleges and universities except administrative activities with 50% of employees  and shutdown of swimming pools, spas, gyms, beauty parlors, saloons, wellness centers, entertainment parks, zoos and tourist places.

Besides 50% capacity has been fixed in daily workforce in all public and private offices with the option of work from home, presence in shopping malls, market complexes, cinema and theatre halls, restaurants and bars up to 10 pm.

While local trains will run with 50% seating capacity up to 7 pm only, metro services will operate with the same load as per usual operational time. But movement of people and vehicles and public gatherings have been  prohibited from 10 pm to 5 am.

Mr Dwiwedi, when asked about the transportation for Gangasagar Mela which attracts lakhs of pilgrims from across the country to Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas and will be held from January 8 and 16, said that the state government has been in touch with the railways to maintain the protocol.

He refused to comment on the upcoming civic polls on January 22 vis-a-vis the latest restrictions. The state government allowed meetings and conferences with a maximum of 200 people at a time or 50% seating capacity of the hall, whichever is lower. It has also restricted gathering in social, religious and cultural events including marriage upto 50 persons and 20 persons for funeral.

The Trinamul Congress government's popular scheme, Duare Sarkar, which was supposed to resume the opening of camps during the day has been postponed and will start again from February 1.