West Bengal imposes strict lock down for seven days, CM asks police to be firm

The government of West Bengal announced a 7-day lock down in containment zones across the state to curb the spread of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, announced that the lockdown in containment zones would begin at 5 PM on July 9 and would go on till July 16.

This announcement was made amidst the surge in the cases of coronavirus in the state. The confirmed cases in the state amount of over 24000 with over 800 deaths so far. Since July 1, there has been an increase of over 5000 cases and 136 people have lost their lives to this unforgiving disease. 

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This announcement comes five days after the ban imposed by Kolkata airport on the landing of the flights arriving from six Indian cities. The flights from Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune, Nagpur and Ahmedabad have been disallowed to land till July 19.

To control the spread, the containment zones and the buffer areas around them have been clubbed by the government. These clubbed areas will be the larger containment zones “These broader containment zones may be subjected to strict lock down and all offices, government and private, all non-essential activities, congregations, transportations, and all marketing, industrial and trading activities will be close”, said Alapa Bandyopadhyay, the Additional Chief Secretary Home.

The total containment zones identified so far in the state amount to 176 which includes Kolkata, Howrah and North 24 Parganas. The rest of the data is being uploaded at the West Bengal government’s website.

“Police need to be strict. If people don’t wear masks, they will be sent home” said Mamata Banerjee, the Chief Minister of the state. She further added that she has no intention to fine them, but those people will not be allowed to move freely and will be sent back home immediately.