Representational image  |  Photo Credit: PTI
Kolkata, West Bengal: Amid the growing threat of a possible third wave of coronavirus, the West Bengal government on Sunday imposed new restrictions in a bid to contain the virus spread in the state.
As per the new guidelines, all schools, colleges, universities, spas, salons, beauty parlours, zoos, and entertainment parks will remain closed in the state from tomorrow, while only essential services will be allowed from 10 pm to 5 am.
“All government and private offices to operate at 50 per cent capacity, all administrative meetings to be conducted via virtual mode,” said the West Bengal Chief Secretary HK Dwivedi.
The state government has further informed that the local trains will be allowed to operate from Monday with 50 per cent capacity till 7 pm.
The new restrictions come amid West Bengal witnessing a sharp spike in daily COVID-19 infections for the last few days. As many as 4,512 fresh cases were reported in the state in the last 24 hours, a health bulletin said on Saturday.
The virus-related death toll in West Bengal has surged to 19,773 as nine more patients succumbed to the infection yesterday. Of the nine fresh fatalities, two each were reported in Kolkata and North 24 Parganas.
The state’s positivity rate rose to 12.02 per cent from 8.46 per cent on the previous day, while the number of daily tests went down from 40,813 to 37,542, it said.