West Bengal: Strict bi-weekly Covid-induced lockdown enforced

Helped by intermittent rains, the second day of the bi-weekly lockdown across West Bengal on Friday kept people indoor and shut most of the commercial establishments, amidst stray incidents of violation of the restrictions.

However, the two-day lockdown appeared to have made little impact on the rise of COVID-19 cases as the state reported yet another record surge of 3245 fresh patients on a single day.

Friday is seventh consecutive day that the state has witnessed a rise of 3000 plus cases per day.

A total of 2725 people were arrested from across the state, including 783 in Kolkata, on the charge of violation of the lockdown guidelines and safety measures.

The 48 hours complete lockdown which began on Thursday is part of the state government's plan to implement shutdowns every week since July 23 to break the chain of COVID-19 infection amid reports of community transmission in some parts of the state.

Incessant overnight rains owing to a low-pressure system since Thursday also forced people to stay at home in the city and majority of other places in south Bengal.

All public transport, government and private offices, banks and other commercial establishments, barring those dealing with essential services, were closed due to the lockdown.

Flight operations in and out of the Kolkata international airport were suspended for the day, while long- distance trains were rescheduled.

Essential services like medicine shops and health establishments remained open as these were kept out of the purview of the complete shutdown.

Petrol pumps have been allowed to operate on the lockdown days.

Security was tightened to enforce the lockdown and police personnel were seen patrolling major traffic intersections in Kolkata.

Violation of shutdown norms was, however, witnessed in some towns such as Canning, Cooch Behar, Malda and Durgapur as some shops in these areas were seen open in the morning.

In several district towns, police personnel were seen checking papers of vehicles that were out on the streets despite the restrictions.

Barricades were put up in various parts of the state, the officials said.

Special police teams were seen patrolling various parts of the city, especially containment zones.

In several places, police were seen punishing lockdown violators by making them do squats and frog jumps.

The police also resorted to lathicharge in some areas to disperse the violators.

"A total of 1942 people were arrested. The overall situation was peaceful," a senior official of West Bengal police said.

A total shutdown was earlier imposed in West Bengal on July 23, 25 and 29 and August 5 and 8.

There will be a complete lockdown again on August 27 and 31.

West Bengal's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 1,32,364 on Friday with the highest single-day spike of 3,245 infections, the state's health department said.

The death toll in the state rose to 2,689 after 55 people succumbed to the virus.

Meanwhile, over one lakh people have recovered from COVID-19 in West Bengal after 3,082 patients recovered from the disease on Friday, according to a bulletin released by the state health department.