Fresh lockdown in containment zones for week: Bengal CM
Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that a fresh lockdown would be imposed in certain pockets identified as containment zones for seven days from Thursday evening and extended by another week if the situation was not under control.
“The decision to extend the lockdown will be taken after reviewing the situation after seven days. We will try to meet everything that is required to control the Covid-19 spike. This time A and B buffer zones have been merged together and redefined as containment zones,” she added.
Earlier, the state had decided to impose complete lockdown in all the designated Covid-19 containment zones across the state from July 9. The new restrictions will be imposed in all the containment zones from 5 pm on Thursday.
Going through the final containment zones list, Banerjee said that the lists for Kolkata, North 24-Parganas and Kolkata’s twin town Howrah were fine.
She asked Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to redo the containment zones list for South 24-Parganas by this evening and release the final list before the fresh lockdown starts from 5 pm on Thursday.
The Chief Minister also held a meeting with doctors and representatives from the healthcare sectors to review the Covid-19 situation across the state and urged everyone to wear face masks in public places.
“I am requesting everyone to wear masks in public. The police must ensure that everyone follows the guidelines,” she said at the state Secretariat Nabanno this evening.
An ealier report had said that the state government will issue a fresh list of containment zones across the state later in the day.
Sources said no business activities would be allowed in the containment zones so that the spike in fresh Covid-19 cases can be tackled.
All government and non-government offices would also remain closed. There will be strict restrictions on public movement in all market areas in redefined containment zones or isolation units.
According to sources in the state Secretariat Nabanno, the district-wise list of redefined containment zones will be uploaded on the official website of the state government ‘Egiye Bangla’.
Sources said there will be at least 33 containment zones in Kolkata in the new list, up by 15.
Similarly, Kolkata’s adjoining North 24-Parganas district will have 219 containment zones, South 24-Parganas 155, Howrah 146 and 27 in Hooghly district.