'Don't panic, no lockdown in Bengal now': Mamata says taking all Covid control measures 

KOLKATA: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Monday ruled out any possibility of lockdown in the state in the wake of the second wave of Covid-19.

The state government is taking all necessary actions to combat the pandemic and there is no need to be panicky, she said.  The government is increasing the number of 'safe homes' for Covid patients with mild symptoms and hospital beds for serious patients, Banerjee announced.

"The state government is taking all necessary actions to combat the second wave of Covid. There is no need to panic. At present, we have 2,000 serious patients including those with comorbidities. In this fight, vaccines, oxygen, and Remdisivir medicine are needed and there is a shortage of these. I have already written to the Prime Minister regarding this. I have requested him to provide us with these things immediately. We are trying to buy these from outside but it is not available in the market," she said in a press conference in Malda.

She announced that 50% of state government employees will go to offices while the will rest work from home. The summer vacation in schools, where classes were going on for students of Class IX to XII, will start from Tuesday and will continue till June, till the further order.

The CM said her government has increased the number of beds to 1,000 in the last four days and 3,500 more beds will be arranged in the next few days. "About 100 government hospitals including ESI ones, are prepared for Covid patients. We have also spoken to 58 private hospitals to ensure more Covid beds. We will use hotels as hospitals if needed," she added.

Referring to the space crunch at 'safe homes', Mamata Banerjee said many establishments are presently being occupied by the Election Commission. "The EC has taken many houses for the election. So, there are fewer homes. We have 11,000 beds in 200 safe homes. The control room is working daily, 400 ambulances are working. There is a telemedicine system. 1600313442222-This phone number is working 24 hours each day"