A day after the Home Ministry issued a new set of guidelines for Unlock 3.0, West Bengal government too issued directives for the state.
The new guidelines states that Yoga institutes and Gymnasiums outside the containment zones will be allowed to function from 5th August. However, the lockdown will be extended in containment zones till August 31.
Here are the guidelines;
1. Following activities shall continue to remain closed / prohibited throughout the state up to 31/08/2020:
i. Schools, ICDS centers, colleges, educational / training /coaching institutions etc.
ii. Cinema halls, swimming pools, entertainment parks, theatres, bars, auditoriums and assembly halls.
iii. Social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious functions and other large congregations.
2. In addition to the activities already permitted, Yoga institutes and Gymnasiums outside the containment zones will be allowed to function from 5th August 2020.
3. Further, as already announced, state wide complete lockdown shall be observed on Wednesday 5 August; Saturday 8 August; Sunday 16 August; Monday 17 August; Sunday 23 August; Saturday 29 August; Monday 31 August.
4. During the complete lockdown on aforesaid days, all government and private offices; commercial establishments; public and private transport including train and flight movements will be closed completely.
Exceptions from the above shall include:
i. Health services including movement of health personnel / patients by public and private transport.
ii. Medicine shops and pharmacies.
iii. Law and order, courts, correctional services, fire and emergency services.
iv. Electricity, water and conservancy services.
v. Continuous process industries and industries with in- house workers.
vi. Agriculture operations; Tea Garden operations in field.
vii. Intrastate and interstate movement of goods.
viii. E-Commerce, Capital and debt market services as notified by RBI.
ix. Print, electronic media and social media. x. Home delivery of cooked food.
5. District Magistrates on assessment of local situation may enforce stricter measures including complete lockdowns in their districts.
7. Norms of physical distancing, wearing of masks, health and hygiene protocol must be strictly adhered to at all times.
Additionally, the ban on passenger flights to Kolkata from six cities -- all COVID-19 hotspots -- has been extended till August 15, amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the state, airport sources here said on Thursday.
"The restriction on arriving flights to #KolkataAirport from 6 cities viz Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur & Ahmedabad has been extended up to 15th August 2020," the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport tweeted.
Earlier, the airport had said that no passenger flight would be arriving in Kolkata from these cities till July 31.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced complete lockdown on weekends barring August 1 on Bakri Eid and Independence Day on August 15. The lockdown with relaxations, which was in place till July 31, has been extended till August 31. This means people can step out and vehicles can ply between 5 am and 10 pm.
Keeping in mind the occassions of Bakri Eid, Raksha Bandhan, Independence Day, and Ganesh Chaturthi, the dates of complete lockdown are decided as August 2, 5, 16, 17, 23, 24, 29 and 31.
The extension of lockdown also means that schools and colleges will remain closed until then. However, Banerjee did mention that the target is to reopen educational institutions on Teacher's Day, i.e. on September 5. If the situation permits, the authorities are looking at a system of classes to be conducted every alternate day.
For now, citizens will have to comply with the complete lockdown on weekends.
West Bengal reported 46 COVID-19 fatalities on Thursday, the highest number of single-day deaths so far, pushing the toll to 1,536, the health department said.
The state's caseload shot up to 67,692 with a record 2,434 fresh cases, it said in a bulletin.
The number of active cases stood at 19,900.
Since Wednesday, 2,140 patients recovered from the disease, improving the discharge rate to 68.33 per cent, the bulletin said.
