Soon after her low-profile oath-taking ceremony, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced several restrictions to be imposed in the state beginning tomorrow to contain the virus.
To stop the bombarding spread of covid-19, Ms Banerjee, who became the CM for the third consecutive year, declared limitations over many activities in Bengal. These include suspension of local trains from tomorrow and furnishing of negative test reports by incoming travelers from Friday. Airport authorities will have to provide quarantine centers for people entering the state through flights, she added.
“There won’t be total lockdown. Emergency and essential services will be outside the purview of restrictions,” the Chief Minister said.
Ms Banerjee had put it forward in the beginning that post elections she will be primarily focusing on controlling the exploding pandemic with the super-spreader roadshows, rallies, and political activities providing huge spaces for the virus to breathe and house human bodies.
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During the press conference following the oath ceremony, the CM said she has written a letter to PM Modi pertaining to the vaccine and tests crisis in Bengal. “I have written to the Prime Minister to announce a transparent policy on Covid, oxygen, and vaccines,” she said.
As for the restrictions imposed today, it includes:
- Mandatory production of negative RT-PCR test reports to enter the states through flights, long-distance trains, or inter-state buses.
- All social and political gatherings remain banned with exceptions to certain social congregations with special permissions and cap on attendees.
- Government and private sector offices to function with 50% capacity.
- Staggered timings for market places.
- Morning and evening shifts for stand-alone shops to remain open with 3 hours in the morning- 7 am to 10 am and 2 hours in the evening- 5 pm to 7 pm.
- Jewelry shops allowed to be open from 12 pm to 3 pm.
The Chief Minister raised the issue of vaccines as she said that the state is “managing the oxygen situation” but not receiving sufficient vaccines to inoculate people.
“Transport workers, hawkers, and journalists will get priority when it comes to vaccines,” she said.
After the polls, the state registered its highest single-day spike with 17,639 cases on Tuesday. This makes the total number of cases 8,98,533 with 11,744 fatalities after 107 people, record high, died on the same day.
Ms Banerjee further assured that the timelines for providing tests will be shortened.
