\u201cThe lockdown was successful and people, barring some, have willingly stayed indoors. This will help in our fight against the disease\u201d, state director<\/a> of health services, Ajay Chakraborty, said. Sukumar Mukherjee, who is part of the Bengal\u2019s Covid advisory panel, said, \u201cIntermittent lockdown is not a solution but it will help in flattening the curve. The lockdown has been successful. The state now needs to focus on how they will handle the crowd on non-lockdown days. People are pouring out once the markets are open and this will increase the risk further.\u201d <\/p>\n
The first bi-weekly lockdowns would have given enforcing agencies a good idea of the areas of concern. Things must be improved here. But citizens too must behave responsibly on non-lockdown days. Irresponsible behaviour on five days of a week can undo all the good that two days of lockdown may do.<\/p>\n
Sources indicated that the meeting on Monday is expected to decide the lockdown dates till August 15. But it is not clear on which day the state will declare the second lockdown this week due to religious festivities in the later part of the week. Thursday \u2014 July 30 \u2014 is Jhulan. Senior officers are also not keen on a back-to-back mid-week lockdown. The management of the Nakhoda mosque has formally announced that Eid Ul Azha will be celebrated on August 1, which is a Saturday. \u201cThe chief minister will preside over the meeting and take a final decision,\u201d an officer said, even indicating that the meeting will consider whether to resume the biweekly lockdown from August first week. <\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nState home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay had indicated that August lockdown dates would be decided on Monday and would depend on a \u201cevolving dynamic feedback\u201d. On July 20, a meeting chaired by the CM decided on the biweekly lockdown model, prompted by expert opinion that stressed the need to \u201cbreak the chain of infection\u201d. Experts had opined in the meeting that Bengal has experienced \u201csome specific community transmissions\u201d of the novel coronavirus<\/a>. The last state-wide total lockdown day in Bengal was on May 31.
Health experts also feel that the twice-a-week lockdown could reduce the disease burden, free up hospital beds and break the chain of transmission to a certain extent. But how much impact it could have on containing the spread of the infection will only be known on how successfully the complete lockdown is enforced and after a few weeks of such lockdown.
The government, however, has given district magistrates the power to decide on the total lockdown dates. In many municipalities and district towns, a week-long lockdown is under way which will continue till next week. On Sunday, the Purulia DM imposed a total lockdown in Purulia Municipal Town and Adra Railway Town (North and South side) from 4pm on Monday (July 27) to Thursday (July 30) midnight. <\/div>\n