West Bengal observing complete lockdown to combat COVID-19

The people of Bengal woke up to Saturday morning with empty roads and closed shops greeting them as the state wore a deserted look following the State Government-imposed bi-weekly lockdown till August-end to break the Covid-19 pandemic chain.

Today was the fifth day of complete lockdown in the state after July 23, 25, 29 and August 05.

Only essential services were exempted from the purview of the lockdown, while medical outlets remained open. All other shops remained shut for two days a week across the state.

All the government and private offices and commercial establishments also remained shut.

All public and private transport were off the roads.

Railways also cancelled the trains scheduled on August 08 and flights were not being allowed to operate in the state.

The Airports Authority Of India (AAI) announced suspension of flight operations at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) airport on all the revised seven days of complete lockdown in West Bengal.

The AAI taking to twitter handle said, " With the lockdown announced in West Bengal, flight ops at AAI's @aaikolairport will remain suspended on revised lockdown dates i.e.05th, 08th, 20th, 21st, 27th, 28th & 31st Aug 2020. "

" Passengers travelling via Kolkata are requested to check flight schedule with concerned airlines, " the AAI added.

The AAI also suspended flight operations on July 25, 29 and August 05 owing to complete lockdown announced by the State Government.

Petrol pumps are, however, allowed to function on the days of complete lockdown.

Lockdown in Containment zones will remain in force till August 31, which was extended from July 31.

It might be mentioned that veteran CPI(M) leader and former State Transport Minister Shyamal Chakraborty passed away due to Covid-19 on Thursday.

Trinamool Congress Councillor in Bidhannagar Municipality Subhash Bose also died of Covid-19 pandemic at a city hospital on Wednesday.

Panihati Municipality (North 24 Parganas) administrator Swapan Ghosh, who had been admitted into a private hospital in the city, died early yesterday following cardiac arrest. He also tested Covid positive.

Celebrated medic Rabin Bose, who headed the forensic examination into the mysterious killing of " stoneman" some years ago, died of Covid-19.

Forensic medicine expert octogenarian Rabin Bose, who was admitted in the dedicated Covid hospital at Beliaghata, breathed his last on Thursday evening after about 22 days of hospitalisation.

Earlier, Trinamool Congress MLA Tamonash Ghosh, who tested positive for COVID-19, passed away in the month of June. Ghosh represented Falta Assembly constituency in South 24 Parganas district in West Bengal.

Meanwhile, The government has dedicated six beds exclusively for third gender Corona patients at the M R Bangur hospital in south Kolkata.

The rapid antigen test has been started across the state as the Swastha Bhawan has already dispatched kits to the government hospitals.

Meanwhile, the State Government on Thursday announced of launching a Covid-19 Patient Management System (CPMS).

The system would enable anyone to receive continuous updated health report of the patients at both government and private hospitals in the state.

The CPMS is one its kind in the country where one can access the patient's updated health report by just a click.

The initiative was taken amid reports of complaints from patients of not getting the latest health bulletin following restricted entry in Covid-19 hospitals.

Meanwhile, the toll in the state due to Covid touched 1954 with 52 people succumbing yesterday.

The count of confirmed cases rose to 89,666, while active cases stood at 24,652, according to the latest State Health Department bulletin.