West Bengal recorded yet another highest single-day spike of 986 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday as the State government has made public a list of over 170 containment zones in Kolkata, North 24 Parganas and Howrah district. The three places are the worst affected recording the highest number of infections and casualties. Kolkata reported six of the 23 deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, North 24 Parganas six and Howrah five. Kolkata has 25 containment zones, North 24 Parganas 95 and Howrah 56.
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Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who held a meeting with the representatives of medical colleges and hospitals at the Secretarait, said strict lockdown has been imposed in the containment zones.
“The cases have been rising. This is nothing major. It is not that the entire Bengal will be put under house arrest,” she said. Movement of the people will be restricted in the zones for next seven days. The lockdown will be imposed from 5 p.m. on Thursday. Ms. Banerjee was upset with the list of containment areas in the South 24 Parganas saying it was arbitrary in certain areas.
Wearing masks a must: Mamata
Ms. Banerjee, however. stressed on wearing masks in public places and asked the police to be strict while handling violators. She said imposing a penalty for not wearing masks does not look good in such testing times.
During the meeting with health officials and medical superintendents of the State-run facilities, the Chief Minister expressed concern over the fatalities due to COVID-19. She asked the doctors to ensure that co-morbidity concerns are addressed properly while treating the patients to bring down deaths.
