This week, Bengal will be under lockdown on Thursday and Saturday (File)
Bengal will go into complete lockdown two days of the week to fight the spurt in coronavirus cases. State Home Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, making the announcement, said there were pockets of community transmission across the state.
This week, the state will be under lockdown on Thursday and Saturday. The next week, it will be on Wednesday. Future dates for August will be announced in the coming days. The containment zone-based restrictions will continue to be in place.
"Bengal is making an effort to break the chain of transmission. The strategy now is is to intensify the effort to break the chain. A lockdown for 2 to 3 days a week will act as a brake. It will have a good effect," home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.
"There is a perception of community transmission in some pockets," the Home Secretary said.
Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury reacted strongly to what he called was an ad hoc decision by Bengal.
"The state had four and a half months to prepare for this situation but all we saw was half boiled and half baked decisions which has left the people in the state in the dark about what to do and where to go if they get infected," he said.
Citing the turnaround in New Delhi, Mr Chowdhury said the state should look to the capital where the recovery rate is over 80 per cent while in Bengal it is going down."
His remarks did not go down well with Dr Shantanu Sen, Trinamool MP and former President of the state's medical association.
"This whole situation is the result of the centres callous handling of the migrant issue among other things. And all that they are doing is, writing letters to the state sometimes from the health secretary sometimes from the home," Dr Shantanu Sen said.
He also accused Mr Chowdhury of playing political games. By citing Delhi as the best example, Mr Chowdhury is sending a message which the people of Bengal understand and will respond to in due course of time Dr Sen Said.
Bengal has over 42,000 COVID-19 cases and over 1,100 deaths.