Misbah Ali

Keeping the experts’ warning about the imminent and inevitable COVID-19 third wave in mind, the West Bengal government on July 30, 2021 extended the existing restrictions till August 15.

However, the state has relaxed some of the curbs.

As per the order, the government allowed cinema halls, and government programmes at indoor facilities to take place with 50 per cent seating capacity.

Buses, taxis, and auto rickshaws have also been permitted to operate with 50 per cent capacity while both government and private offices are allowed to function with half their manpower.

All other restrictions imposed as per the last order on July 14 have been extended till August 15.

All the district administrations were ordered to ensure strict compliance with COVID protocols including wearing of masks and following social distancing.

“Any violation of the restriction measures will be liable to be proceeded against as per the provisions of the Disaster Management Act, 2005 and relevant sections of the IPC,” the order stated.

According to the Health Department, West Bengal’s daily COVID cases dropped to 766 on July 29 from 815 the previous day.

The new cases pushed the COVID tally to 15, 26,539. The state has 11,300 active COVID cases while the death toll rose to 18,123 with 14 more people succumbing to the virus in the last 24 hours.

A total of 822 infected people were declared recovered, pushing the overall tally to 14, 97,116. Total 45,936 samples were tested since July 28, of which 1.67 per cent was tested positive.

West Bengal’s positivity rate stands at 1.67% which is lower than yesterday (1.81%).