In the wake of rising trajectory of Covid-19 cases in the state, the West Bengal government has decided to put the Kolkata International Film Festival on hold. The decision comes a few days after the organisers of the film festival had said that the event will be conducted at its scheduled date with Covid-19 restrictions in place. The organisers had said that the seating capacity would be reduced to 50 percent and all other Covid-19 protocols would be in place to organise the film festival.
However, owing to the sudden rise in the number of Coronavirus cases in the state, the government has put the event on hold, the Indian Express reported. The event which was supposed to be held between January 7 and January 14 has now been put on hold and the next date for the event will be communicated in due course, the government said. The government in its statement said that a number of prominent film personalities and organisers of the event have been affected with Covid-19 along with a general rise in the number of cases.
Actor Parambrata Chatterjee, who was one of the members of the organising committee of the film festival recently tested positive for COronavirus. Chatterjee took to Twitter and disclosed that he had tested positive for the virus and advised people who had come in contact with him to get tested for COvid-19 as a precautionary measure. The actor had said that he had tested negative once before testing positive for the disease.
Other people associated with the film festival who have tested positive include filmmaker Raj Chakraborty who is also the chairman of the organising committee who had tested positive for Coronavirus. Chakraborty who is also a Trinamool Congress MLA had tested positive for the disease along with his wife. TMC MP Mimi Chakraborty and Dev Adhikari who have been associated with cinema had also tested positive for Coronavirus. The state government, taking into consideration the spread of virus among the organisers and chances of larger spread, finally decided to put the event on hold.
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