Covid-19: West Bengal extends lockdown curbs till Aug 30; local trains to stay shut

Kolkata, Aug 12: The West Bengal government on Thursday again extended the existing restrictions till August 30 to contain the spread of COVID-19. Issuing a fresh order, the state government said that local trains will remain shut till the end of this month.

According to the Mamata Banerjee-led government's order, the movement of people in West Bengal has been restricted from 11 pm to 5 am. Earlier, the night curfew was enforced from 9 pm to 5 am. In addition, the West Bengal government also extended lockdown in the state till August 30 with certain relaxations.

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The administration has earlier allowed government programmes at indoor facilities with 50 per cent seating capacity. Buses, taxis, autorickshaws have been permitted to operate with 50 per cent capacity.

Offices, both government and private, are also allowed to function with half the manpower.

All the district administrations were asked to ensure strict compliance of directives related to wearing of masks and social distancing.

'Any violation of the restriction measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and relevant sections of the IPC,' the order stated.

At least six people died of COVID-19 in West Bengal on Wednesday (August 11), taking the toll to 18,258, while 700 fresh cases pushed the tally to 15,35,699, a bulletin issued by the health department said. The city and its neighbouring South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly districts reported no coronavirus deaths while North 24 Parganas accounted for one fatality.