Coronavirus: Complete lockdown in West Bengal's containment zones from July 9

The West Bengal government on Tuesday decided to impose complete lockdown in all containment zones from Thursday, as Covid-19 cases and casualties continued to surge in the state.

All non-essential activities will be prohibited in containment zones from 5 pm on Thursday.

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According to the order issued by Additional Chief Secretary Alapon Bandyopadhyay, all government and private offices, non-essential activities, transportation, gatherings, and industrial, marketing and trading activities will be prohibited.

The order also said that the earlier system of dividing containment zones into affected zones and buffer zones will no longer be applicable. “The current concept of containment zones may be combined with that of buffer zones. Together, they may constitute broader containment zones, which may be subjected to strict lockdown,” it said.

The number of containment zones in Kolkata will be decided mutually by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and the Kolkata Police. For districts, the process will be carried out in consultation with the respective Commissioners and Superintendents of Police.

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“Current concept of containment zone may be combined with the concept of a buffer zone and together they may constitute a revised and broad-based containment zone approach. These broader containment zones may be subjected to strict lockdown,” stated the order.

The residents in containment zones will be “exempted and prohibited” from attending government and private offices. Entry and exit will be strictly regulated in these areas. Local authorities have been instructed to try and arrange home delivery services.

Local authorities have been instructed to try to arrange home delivery to the residents of containment zones.

The number of containment zones in Kolkata will be decided mutually by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Kolkata Police. As for the districts the process will be carried out in consultation with respective Commissioners and Superintendents of Police.

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The district magistrates, KMC and Kolkata Police have been instructed to upload the revised list of containment zones in the respective district website and the stater government’s Egiye Bangla website.

According to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, 22,987 cases were reported in the state till Monday, out of which 6,973 were active. The state has recorded 779 Covid-19 deaths so far.