Mamata Banerjee shuts WB schools, colleges & theaters till April 15 amid Coronavirus dread

As 110 plus people have been infected and many others are considered suspects of COVID-19 in India, no state government is taking any chance whatsoever. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee issued new directives after her meeting with senior bureaucrats at Nabanna, the state secretariat on Monday. 

"All schools and colleges have been shut down till March 31. Now we are extending it to April 15" said Mamata Banerjee on Monday. A few days back, her government had issued directives of a complete shut down of public and private education institutions till 31st March. 

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The Chief Minister held a meeting on Coronavirus with all stakeholders central agencies like BSF and others in which she announced that 3,40,000 people had been screened and more than 5,000 are being monitored on whether they are showing any symptoms. She also appreciated the measures taken by Central govt on the lockdown of borders.

She said, "Bengal is the gateway of North East. Bengal shares its borders with other countries and some of the borders have been sealed by central agencies too."

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West Bengal govt enables '200 crore fund'

A Rs 200 crore fund has been created and certain immediate orders have been passed, stated the Chief Minister. She also said that 2 lakh security suite for doctors, 2 lakh N95 masks, 10,000 thermal screeners were ordered. Those who will work for the infected persons will be covered by Rs. 5 lakh worth insurance, Mamata Banerjee announced.

On Saturday, the Chief Minister had stated about two fully operational isolation centres to keep patients quarantined in Rajarhat that was ready to tackle the crisis. Although there have been no positive cases of Coronavirus in West Bengal, the state government is not taking any chances.

The directive to close all theatres, auditoriums till 31st March and continuation of shut down of all public and private educational institutions till 15th March, only proves the seriousness of Bengal government in tackling the situation.

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(Image: PTI)