To prevent the COVID-19 spread in the state, the West Bengal government today extended the restriction on domestic flights from high prevalence places to Kolkata. No flights from six cities in the country will be allowed at the Kolkata Airport till August 15. These cities are Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai and Ahmedabad. Mamata Banerjee-led state government earlier imposed a restriction on domestic flights from July 6 to 31.
The West Bengal government has allowed domestic flights in Kolkata from May 29. All passengers must submit a self-declaration form stating that they had not tested positive for COVID-19 in the past two months, the state government said earlier.
The state government earlier extended the biweekly lockdown till August 31. There will be a complete shutdown across the state for two days every week. “We are extending the two-day lockdown every week in the state, which was in force till July 31, till August 31,” West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee announced.
In August, there will be strict lockdown across the state on 5th, 8th, 16th, 17th, 23rd, 24th and 31st, Banerjee added. The lockdown in the containment zone has also been extended till August 31, the chief minister said today.
The domestic flight services from the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International (NSCBI) Airport in Kolkata will also remain shut on those lockdown when lockdown is being implemented in the state.
“The flight operations at Kolkata airport will remain suspended on 5th, 8th,16th,17th, 23rd, 24th and 31st August 2020 as per the lockdown announced by West Bengal Government,” news agency ANI reported. The passengers are requested to contact concerned airlines to change their flight schedule.
West Bengal witnessed the biggest spike in COVID-19 tally today. Nearly 2,500 people tested positive for the novel coronavirus int the last 24 hours. The total number of coronavirus cases in the state stood at 67,692. The deadly virus claimed 46 lives in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll in the state to 1,536.
India also saw a record surge in daily coronavirus count today. For the first time, over 50,000 people were confirmed with COVID-19 infection in a day. The deadly virus infected 15,83,792 people since the outbreak. The number of fatalities climbed to 34,968 with 775 people succumbing to the disease in a day.
Source: https://www.livemint.com/news/india/west-bengal-covid-19-no-flights-from-mumbai-delhi-to-kolkata-till-mid-august-11596121446912.html
