As coronavirus cases continue to soar,?West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced extension of the lockdown in the state till July 31 to contain the spread of COVID-19.? ?
The ongoing lockdown in West Bengal was to end on June 30.
As of yesterday, Bengal had recorded a total of 15,173 coronavirus cases. Of these, the? number of active cases was 4,890. Besides, 11 deaths were recorded which brought the total to 591.??
Banerjee, after attending an all-party meeting held at an auditorium adjacent to the state secretariat, said though there were differences of opinion among the leaders, it was finally decided to extend the curbs till the end of July with relaxations.
During a press briefing, the West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee, also revealed that all institutions including state-run and state-aide schools, colleges and universities will remain shut during the course of the lockdown.?
Metro and suburban train services will also remain suspended.?
Shopping malls, restaurants and other similar establishments had resumed operations in Bengal on June 8 after a gap of over two months, with the state government allowing relaxations as part of ¡®Unlock-1¡¯ ¡ª the first phase of a calibrated exit from the coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown.
Places of worship and private offices were also allowed to open with reduced attendance.
During the all-party meeting where the extension was decided, an expert committee with representatives from all political parties in the state was constituted to take stock of the post-cyclone situation.
The committee, headed by West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, will include BJP state president Dilip Ghosh, CPI(M) leader Sujan Chakraborty and Congress¡¯ Pradeep Bhattcherjee among others.