West Bengal extends COVID restrictions till September 30; check details

Owing to the current COVID-19 situation in the state, the West Bengal government has extended COVID-19 restrictions till September 30, along with existing relaxations. On May 26, the first set of restrictions were imposed that were extended at regular intervals. These restrictions were set to expire on Wednesday, September 15. 

The order by West Bengal government reads, "All outdoor activities, including movement of people & vehicles shall be strictly prohibited b/w 11 pm-5 am except for health services, law & order, essential commodities & other emergency services". 

Earlier in August, after conducting a thorough review of the condition of the COVID pandemic in the state, the Executive Committee of the Disaster Management Authority had recommended further extension of restriction measures that are already in force.

COVID-19 restrictions by the West Bengal government

Wearing of masks, maintenance of physical distancing, and health and hygiene protocols must be followed at all times. The state government has allowed offices, both government and private, to function with half the manpower, as per the order.

The order stated, "District administrations, police commissioners, and local authorities shall ensure strict compliance with the state directives of wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. Any violation of the restriction measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and relevant sections of the IPC".

No RT-PCR report required at Kolkata airport informed airport authorities

On Tuesday, September 14, the Kolkata airport authority informed that passengers whose final destination is not West Bengal do not need to carry an RT-PCR report, while responding to a query from a user who was travelling to Delhi via Kolkata.

Kolkata airport tweeted, "Please note transit passengers whose final destination is not West Bengal and who do need to come out of Airport need not carry COVID test report for Kolkata. For more details please contact the concerned Airline". 

COVID-19 situation in West Bengal

To date, West Bengal has reported a total of 15.6 lakh active COVID-19 cases with 18,599 deaths. The state has administered 4,82,95,886 COVID-19 vaccine doses across 2,568 vaccination sites. 

Image: PTI