Self-isolate for 14 days if coming from abroad
Kolkata: Urging people returning from abroad and other states to be in self-isolation for 14 days, the Mamata Banerjee's government has appealed to the Centre to suspend all long-distance trains connecting the state till March 31.
Banerjee said: "I have urged Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha to write to the Centre in this connection as the next three weeks are very vulnerable."
In the letter to the Chairman of the Railway Board on Saturday, Sinha stated that "considering the emergent situation developing due to spread of novel Coronavirus, you are requested to ensure that no trains from outside the state of West Bengal enter the state from midnight of March 22 onwards till March 31..."
This comes when the fourth positive case has been identified in the state on Saturday.
Banerjee said it is quite natural that residents of the state, who went outside to work, will return to their homes. But there is no screening by the Railways. Repeated requests in the past month to ensure the same have fallen on deaf ears. "So I request people returning from other states as well and their family members to ensure that all precautionary measures are taken to check the spread of the disease. They must stay indoors in a separate room and those staying in one-room houses must stay inside a mosquito net," Banerjee said, adding that she is herself taking a number of precautions.
She also urged those who went to other states for work, to start new ventures in Bengal.
In connection with special trains deployed to send people back to the state from Maharashtra, Banerjee said: "It seems they (Maharashtra) get special trains for their closeness with the Centre. But we never get special trains when asked for." Banerjee also raised the issue of delaying suspension of international flights.
The state government has also set up a control room at Nabanna in which one can get in touch at toll-free number 1070 and 03322143526 round-the-clock.
Restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, night clubs, hookah bars, massage parlours, amusement parks, museums and zoos will remain shut from Sunday till March 31.
The South-Eastern Railway and Eastern Railway have cancelled all Mail and Express trains between 7 am to 9 pm on Sunday in view of the 'Janata Curfew'. Metro services will also be curtailed on Sunday.
The state Education Department has deferred the ongoing Higher Secondary Examinations in the state until April 15.
Beliaghata ID officials held a meeting to chalk out plans on how the 100-bed isolation ward, announced by the Chief Minister would be accommodated. One housekeeping staff of Beliaghata ID has been admitted to the same hospital with suspected symptoms.
The state government has called an all-party meeting at the state Secretariat, Nabanna, on Monday.
Meanwhile, son of a senior IPS officer, who returned from the USA on Thursday, has been sent to the quarantine centre at Rajarhat from their residence at Tollygunge IPS quarters. Officials of the KMC went to the quarter and sent the IPS officer's son to the quarantine centre.
