West Bengal extends COVID-19 lockdown curbs till July 15; Know what's allowed & what's not

The West Bengal government on Monday extended the lockdown-like restrictions imposed in the state to control the rise in COVID-19 infection till July 15, with some relaxations. The government had earlier extended the curbs till July 1. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the government has decided to give some relaxations in this phase of lockdown, considering the imposed Coronavirus situation in Bengal.

List of activities allowed in this phase of lockdown

• Private and corporates offices can operate from 10 am to 4 pm every day at 50% strength.
• Salons and beauty parlours can also function from 11 am to 6 pm with 50% staff but only if they are vaccinated.
• Private and public buses can also operate at 50 per cent capacity but the drivers and conductors must also be vaccinated.
• Gyms can also reopen in West Bengal with 50 per cent capacity.
• Bank and financial institutions can only operate from 10 am to 2 pm.
• Vegetable and fruit vendors can operate from 6 am to 12 noon. Rest of the markets are allowed to open from 11 am to 8 pm.

COVID situation in Bengal

The lockdown relaxations came as West Bengal's COVID-19 tally mounted to 14,94,949 on Sunday as 1,836 more people tested positive for the virus, the health department said. A total of 29 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 17,612, it said.

The state now has 21,884 active cases, while 14,55,453 people have recovered from the disease, including 2,022 since Saturday. West Bengal has so far tested over 1,40,61,046 samples for COVID-19. Meanwhile, 2,95,801 beneficiaries were vaccinated on Sunday, raising the number of those inoculated thus far to 2,08,88,441, officials said.