Kolkata, April 8, 2020:
The West Bengal government, with a total of 61 active COVID-19 cases, has identified seven of its areas as "hotspots' of the coronavirus infection.
These seven hotspots are - Kalimpong, Egra, Tehatta, Howrah, Kolkata, Command Hospital and Haldia. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that her government has identified the seven COVID-19 hotspots in the State and was taking necessary measures to break the cycle of transmission.
On Tuesday, eight new cases were reported and the death toll stood at five. The Chief Minister also said that she was weighing the option of providing "limited relaxation" on the work front for unorganised sector workers, who were among the worst hit by the lockdown following the coronavirus crisis.
"We are mulling the idea of allowing limited relaxations in some unorganized sectors. We will also allow Kisan Mandi to operate but everyone has to adhere to the social distancing norms," she added.
ALSO READ: Lockdown amid COVID-19 Crisis could Push 40 Crore Indians to Poverty
As per the latest update, West Bengal has thirteen people cured or discharged, four people have died due to other co-morbidity factors (five due to COVID-19) and 91 cases have been reported till now.
It may be mentioned here that out of the 61 COVID-19 patients, 55 belong to just seven families. West Bengal CM said that a total of 54,823 people are in home quarantine and 3,749 released while 6889 were in 511 government quarantine centres or ‘safe houses’ and 4,010 have been already released.
4,706 new beds have been created in the newly set up 59 COVID-19 Hospitals, including four in Kolkata. Mamata Banerjee said that the population density of the State is very high, therefore the West Bengal situation cannot be compared to other states. Of the positive cases, 99 percent have international connections, she added.
The positive cases have been registered from seven areas, including eleven from a family in Kalimpong (a person of this family had earlier died), five people of the family of a doctor of Alipore Command Hospital, five people from Tehatta (they had UK connection), 12 people from Egra, eight from Hooghly, 12 from Kolkata and two from Haldia.
West Bengal Government is trying all means to contain the virus and for that it has decided to not reopen its tea gardens immediately after the lockdown although the Government of India had issued a guideline on Saturday directing immediate re-opening.
Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee has asked people refrain from doing politics over the coronavirus situation and to stop false propaganda over the figures. “This is not a time for joking or doing politics. Some parties are using fake news and the health department’s bulletin to do false propaganda,” she said, adding that the state government never challenged any of the data.
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