Complete lockdown today: Police to take stern measures against those venturing out without valid reason
Kolkata: Strict lockdown will be imposed across the state on Wednesday with the police being directed to take stringent measures if anyone is found moving out of their houses without any valid reason.
The state government has announced a statewide complete lockdown seven days in August to stem the spike in COVID-19 cases. Wednesday is the first day in the month of August when complete lockdown in the state will be imposed. There was a complete lockdown on three days last month — July 23, 25 and 29 respectively. At least 2,752 people tested positive and 54 died due to COVID-19 on Tuesday. At the same time, the discharge rate was 70.24 percent and the number of swab samples tested on Tuesday was 22,321.
Police will also keep a close watch for gatherings and immediate stringent measures will be taken for violating the lockdown norms.
There will be naka-checking at all the crucial intersections in Kolkata. Similarly, there will be police pickets at entry and exit points of all the districts. No vehicles will be allowed to ply unless it is for essential services. The intrastate and interstate movement of goods have also been kept out of the ambit of the lockdown.
Besides maintaining a tab on major thoroughfares, the police across the state have been directed to maintain a close vigil in lanes and bylanes in urban areas those witnessing the maximum number of COVID-19 cases. Drones will be used for the same.
Government and private offices will remain closed. There will be no train and flight services as well on Wednesday. As many as 100 domestic flight operations have been cancelled while seven long-distance trains, including Howrah-Yesvantpur Special, Howrah-Barbil-Howrah special, Patna-Shalimar Special and Bhubaneswar-Howrah-Bhubaneswar Special will remain suspended.
The relaxations have been given to essential services besides the "continuous process industries" and those with in-house workers along with capital and debt markets.
