Existing Covid curbs to remain till March 15, Bengal logs lowest cases since first wave

The Bengal government on Monday announced existing night curfew curbs will continue to be in force till mid-March as per Covid-19 restrictions even as the state recorded 89 new coronavirus cases, the lowest recorded infections since the outbreak of the first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

In a notification, the government said the existing Covid-19 restrictions will continue to be in force till March 15 as recommended by the state executive committee of disaster management authority.

As per the decision, "the movement of all vehicles and people will be restricted from 12 midnight to 5am. Only essential and emergency services will be allowed."

Other covid appropriate behaviour like "wearing masks, physical distancing and maintaining the standard health/hygiene protocol" should be adhered to as before , the notice said.

A health department bulletin said the 89 new Covid cases on Monday pushed the tally to 20,15,107.

The Covid-19 death toll rose to 21,176 as one more person succumbed to the disease on Monday.

The positivity rate went down to 0.50 per cent on Monday from 0.78 per cent the previous day, it said.

Kolkata recorded 14 new cases followed by 11 in North 24-Parganas, according to the data.

West Bengal now has 1,828 active Covid-19 cases, while 19,92,103 patients have recovered from the disease including 204 on Monday.

The state had reported 215 new Covid-19 cases and three deaths on Sunday.

A total of 2,42,12,326 samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far, the bulletin added.