West Bengal on Tuesday reported 372 new Covid-19 positive patients, while 10 more people died of the disease in the state. Reports said that while the overall death rate in the state was reducing, it was increasing in Kolkata.
Days after releasing guidelines for government offices, the state has now issued new guidelines saying those who show even the mildest of symptoms should not come to work.
Meanwhile, a team sent by the Narendra Modi government is reportedly going to assist the West Bengal administration to deal with the Covid-19 situation.
As the dates for higher secondary exams come closer, officials in Bengal are now looking for quarantine centres for the migrant workers, as the schools, now functioning as quaratine centres, will have to be emptied for the exams.
Schools and colleges in Bengal have said that they will follow state guidelines on when to reopen.
4,950 active cases
The number of active cases in West Bengal rose to 4,950 after 372 more people tested positive for Covid-19. West Bengal has so far reported a total of 8,613 coronavirus cases.
The death toll in the state rose to 415 after 10 more people died of the disease.
The state has tested a total of 2,87,900. A total of 3,620 people have been discharged after recovery in the state.
According to the date provided by the government, while the death rate has fallen across the state, the number of deaths in Kolkata have only increased, keeping the government worried.
Anandabazar Patrika reported that among the 415 people who have died in the state, 265 were from Kolkata.
The report said that the death rate across the state had decreased from 5.30% last week to 4.61% on Tuesday. But the same in Kolkata increased from 7.39% last week to 8.78% this week.
For the latest news and more, follow HuffPost India on Twitter, Facebook, and subscribe to our newsletter.
New rules for government offices
Releasing guidelines for government offices, that are supposed to work with 70% of their workforce, the West Bengal government said only asymptomatic people can come to work and made it mandatory for people to wear masks inside the office.
The move was after several staffers in government offices have tested positive.
The Telegraph quoted an unnamed senior official of the government as saying, “Already a number of senior officials, including two in the chief minister’s office, have been sent to home isolation after their drivers tested positive. The government is being careful.”
The guidelines said that those who live in containment areas or buffer zones don’t need to come to work either.
PTI quoted the guidelines as saying, “Anyone with any sort of symptoms like mild fever, cough and cold need not attend office and officers and staff residing in containment zone shall not come to office. He/she will work from home till the area is declared as a Clear Area (category C). Staff not attending office should work from home through e-office.”
The report said that while inside the office people will have to wear masks, wash their hands frequently and use hand sanitiser.
Common areas, the guidelines said, could not have more than 10 people and they too must maintain a distance of 2 metres, and if that is not possible, then the number of employees should be further reduced.
Another central team to visit Bengal
After the huge controversy over the Central teams that visited West Bengal, the Narendra Modi government has sent yet another central team to the state.
PTI reported that the three-member team will assist the local administration in better management of COVID-19 outbreak.
The report said that on Tuesday, the team held a meeting with state chief secretary Rajiva Sinha and the state health secretary to discuss the coronavirus scenario in West Bengal.
They visited the state-run quarantine centers in Rajarhat and enquired about the treatment procedure from the people admitted there. The officials from Delhi also visited a mall near Park Circus area and took stock of the situation.
None of the officials, however, were ready to take questions from the media, PTI reported.
Search for new quarantine centres
The higher secondary examinations for the West Bengal state boards will be conducted on July 2, 6 and 8. In light of the situation, officials in the state are on the lookout for new quarantine facilities for the lakhs of migrant workers who are at the moment staying in several facilities that are in schools.
The Telegraph quoted an unnamed senior health department official as saying, “We have been asked to vacate those buildings and sanitise them properly within June 20 and hand them over to the school education department. The job must start within June 15.”
The report said that at least 1.54 lakh people are the the moment living in quarantine centres that are schools.
When will school, colleges open?
PTI reported that the authorities of schools and colleges in West Bengal plan to follow the recommendation of the state on when to re-open.
While the union government has said that schools and colleges across the country could open after August 15, State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee had earlier said that in West Bengal they will resume classroom teaching after June 30.
“We will follow the advisory of the school education department and decide accordingly. Already three months have been lost. Taking online classes is not feasible in state-run schools for certain reasons,” the headmaster of such a school in Kolkata told PTI.
As of now, there is no update from the state government about extension of the “vacation caused by COVID- 19” after June 30, he said.
“I think the authorities will take a decision in this regard at the appropriate time, he added.
General Secretary of Upacharya Parishad, the organisation of vice-chancellors of state universities, Subiresh Bhatattacharya, also said they will go by the decision of the higher education department about when to resume on-campus activities.
“We have already submitted our recommendations about various academic issues, including suspension of on-campus academic activities till June 30,” he told PTI.
The report said that Calcutta University vice-chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee expressed hope that pending final year semester exams could be conducted, after minimising the possibility of large gatherings, within a month after the university reopens.
The principal of a college in north Kolkata said class 10 and class 12 board examination results are supposed to be out by July and August respectively, and further push back of the reopening date of universities and colleges could put the academic calendar in jeopardy.
“When will the under-graduate classes in different streams begin in that case? You cannot conduct everything online. Many of our students will be deprived then,” the principal of the century-old co-educational college said.
(With PTI inputs)