COVID-19: West Bengal says no to incoming flight from 8 hotspot cities; details here

West Bengal itself is witnessing a precarious situation.

Coronavirus in India: Travellers planning to book a flight to West Bengal, take note! In order to avoid the spread of coronavirus in the state, the West Bengal government on Tuesday asked the Union Aviation Ministry to not schedule any flight from eight hotspots to the state for two weeks beginning July 6, according to a report by IE. The development came after the state recorded the highest number of daily cases for the fourth time in five days, jumping by 652 cases to stand at 18,559. Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha wrote to the ministry stating that a high number of coronavirus cases were being reported in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Surat and Indore.

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In the letter, the official wrote that these were also the source cities of a lot of people who tested positive upon returning to the state, the report said.

Mumbai, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Delhi are among the cities worst-affected by COVID-19. On Tuesday, Delhi’s tally stood at 85,161, while Chennai’s case count was 55,969. Mumbai, the worst-hit metropolitan city, has a caseload of 77,658, while Ahmedabad is the worst-hit in Gujarat, with a case count of 20,716.

In the letter, Sinha wrote that during the pandemic, some states have been witnessing more cases, even as they believe that all states are equally vigilant and active. The official added that the state has also been witnessing a steep rise in the number of cases, a lot of which have been reported among people who have returned from other states. Keeping that in view, the state government decided to curtail the incoming flights and trains, the IE report said.

Since the state itself is witnessing a precarious situation, with Kolkata, ad adjoining Howrah and North 24 Parganas being the epicentre of the virus, Sinha wrote that the state has requested the Centre to reduce the frequency of flights to Kolkata, Bagdogra and Andal from other cities to once a week from every airline from July 6 through July 31, the report stated.

The Chief Secretary also wrote to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, urging the ministry to consider allowing the operations of Kolkata metro for the convenience of those working in essential services.

The West Bengal epicentre of coronavirus was responsible for 11 of the latest 15 deaths reported in the state, while most of the infections were also recorded in these districts.