West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday urged citizens not to panic, even as the State reported 2,261 new cases of COVID-19 and 35 more fatalities.
Ms. Banerjee, however, attributed the rise in cases to increased testing. “Cases of COVID-19 will rise but there is nothing to panic. The increase is because we are testing more,” she said, addressing a virtual rally on martyrs day.
The CM said by August 15, the State will be testing about 25,000 samples a day. Currently, 13,000 samples are being tested on a daily basis. On Tuesday, 13,064 samples were tested. She also said there were 18,000 beds still vacant in the State. Meanwhile, the Home Department has announced lockdown on three days — July 23, 25 and 29.
Of the 35 deaths on Tuesday, 16 were recorded in Kolkata, followed by 13 in North 24 Parganas. Two deaths were recorded in Howrah, Hooghly and South 24 Parganas each. The State’s death toll currently stands at 1,182, of which 608 deaths were recorded from Kolkata and 234 from North 24 Parganas.
Meanwhile, parties in the Opposition have raised questions on the biweekly lockdown announced by the State government. Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the government had failed to utilise the opportunity of the lockdown to augment the health infrastructure in the State. Mr. Chowdhury alleged that norms of social distancing were not maintained at the Trinamool Congress virtual rally.
“In the name of virtual meeting, each and every village party office of TMC is going to organize local level public gathering which will certainly violate the norms physical distance may further aggravate,” he said on social media.
