West Bengal extends lockdown till 31 July with necessary relaxations

July 24: West Bengal on Wednesday extended the lockdown in the state till 31 July amid the continuous spike in coronavirus cases. Issuing an order, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee restricted train and metro services in the state till July-end.

Earlier today, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee held an all-party meeting at Nabanna in Kolkata over Covid-19 situation in the state. Dilip Ghosh, president of BJP’s West Bengal unit, Manoj Howladar from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Swapan Banerjee from Communist Party of India, Pradip Bhattacharya from Congress were among those who participated in the meeting.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said,”Except for the dates of pending higher secondary exams and the other board exams which our education department will decide, we are planning to extend lockdown in the state with the necessary relaxations.” Shopping malls, restaurants and other establishments were allowed to open as the state government allowed relaxations as part of the “Unlock-1”, the first phase of a calibrated exit from the coronavirus-induced lockdown across the country. The West Bengal government had already eased curbs in the state from June 1, allowing places of worship to reopen and full operationalisation of the jute, tea and construction sectors.