The West Bengal government on Monday relaxed some of the restrictions imposed due to spiralling Covid-19 cases, as it allowed gyms to reopen and gave permission for jatra (theatre) and outdoor shooting.
The move comes at a time when the positivity rate of Covid-19 cases in the state has dipped from 33.8% on January 9 to 26.4% on Monday.
An order issued by the state government on Monday said that gyms could now reopen with 50% of the capacity every day till 9 pm, provided staff and users were either fully vaccinated or were RT-PCR negative.
Jatra (theatres) have been allowed up to 9 pm with 50% capacity in an outdoor venue. In an indoor venue, a maximum of 200 people may be allowed. Outdoor shootings for films and televisions have also been permitted.
“The daily count of Covid-19 cases had shot up to more than 24,000 on January 9, while on Monday it dipped to 9,385. The positivity rate, too, had dropped during the same period,” said a senior official of the state government.
On Monday, Kolkata registered 1,879 fresh cases of the Covid-19 infection. According to statistics published by the Union health ministry, the weekly positivity rate of Kolkata, which had shot up to 57.9% between January 2 and January 8, has dropped to 53.5% between January 10 and January 16.
“There is no place for complacency and we have to be very cautious at least till the first week of February. The positivity rate of Kolkata, even though it has come down, is still higher than most of the cities including Delhi and Mumbai,” said Sukumar Mukherjee, Mukherjee, is a member of the expert committee that was set up in 2020 to advise chief minister Mamata Banerjee on pandemic-related matters.
While the death toll was 18 on January 9, it has jumped to 33 on Monday. On January 15 and January 16 at least 39 and 36 people had died. The recovery rate has also dropped from 94% to around 90% in the last one week.
It was only on January 2 that the state government imposed restrictions closing down schools and colleges while allowing only 50% workforce in offices and putting a 50% cap on trains and metro. Direct flights from UK were stopped and flights from Delhi and Mumbai were allowed to land only three days a week.
On Saturday, the West Bengal election commission had postponed the polls in four civic bodies by three weeks, even as the state government relaxed some of the restrictions. Marriage ceremonies were allowed to be held with 200 people or 50% of the seating capacity of the venue. Earlier the cap was 50 people. The state also allowed fairs and melas to be organised following Covid-19 protocols.
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