The Bengal government on Saturday announced stricter Covid restrictions for the next 15 days, from 6am on Sunday to 6pm on May 30, to “contain and combat” the spread of the epidemic.

The government has taken care not to call it a lockdown, allowing limited activity by the retail business and a narrow window of operations for jewelleries when the wedding season is on.

But one key change is that retail shops selling food and other everyday items will function only in the morning, unlike last time when some of these shops remained open through the day.

On April 30, a day after the Assembly elections had ended, the state government had announced several Covid restrictions such as the closure of malls, restaurants, bars, spas, gyms, sports complexes and swimming pools.

It had at the time allowed markets and shops to remain open three hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

“The restrictions are being implemented to bring down the number of deaths and (contain the) spread of the virus,” chief secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said at Nabanna on Saturday.

The following are some of the key features of the restrictions that kick in from Sunday morning:

What’s closed

⚫ All educational institutions including schools, colleges, universities, polytechnics, ITIs and Anganwadi centres.

⚫ Government and private offices and establishments.

⚫ Malls, shopping and market complexes, spas, beauty parlours, cinemas, restaurants, bars, sports complexes, gyms, swimming pools, parks, zoos and animal sanctuaries.

⚫ All outdoor activity and movement banned between 9pm and 5am except for the exemptions mentioned below.

What’s functional

⚫ Healthcare facilities including Covid vaccination centres, veterinary services, sanitation services.

⚫ Shops and markets selling vegetables, fruits, groceries, milk, bread, meat and eggs to be open from 7am to 10am.

⚫ Medicine shops and optical stores to have regular working hours.

⚫ Sweet shops to stay open between 10am and 5pm, and jewellery and sari stores between noon and 3pm.

⚫ Home delivery of all commodities allowed.

⚫ Banks to operate between 10am and 2pm.

⚫ Petrol pumps, auto repair shops, and LPG offices and distribution centres.

⚫ Print and electronic media, MSOs and cable operators.

Gatherings

⚫ All academic, administrative, political, religious and entertainment-related gatherings banned.

⚫ Only 50 people can attend a wedding and only 20 can attend a funeral.

Transport

⚫ Local trains, Metro trains, intra-state buses and inland water transport including ferry services to remain closed apart from those serving emergency and essential services personnel.

⚫ Taxis and auto-rickshaws cannot ply except to and from hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, clinics, vaccination centres, airports and media houses.

Industries

⚫ Industries shut except for those related to the supply of medical products, Covid protective gear, health and hygiene care, oxygen and oxygen cylinders, and to the production and packaging of essential food commodities and beverages including milk, poultry, fish and meat. Continuous-process industries can stay open.

⚫ Tea gardens can operate with half the total workforce in each shift, and jute mills with 30 per cent of the workforce per shift.

The government has advised people to wear masks and observe physical distancing and hygiene protocols at all times.

Mamata Banerjee had announced a few more restrictions after taking oath as chief minister on May 5, reducing attendance at government and private offices to half the workforce, allowing only 50 per cent occupancy in state transport including the Metro, and suspending the suburban train service.

“These measures seem to have slowed the infection rate but we needed stricter restrictions to bring down the number of daily cases,” a senior government official said.

Bengal reported 20,846 new positive cases on Friday. The count was 6,769 on April 15 and 17,411 on April 30.

While the health department’s official figures show that only 40.47 per cent of the state’s 20,043 Covid beds were occupied on Friday evening, sources said it had become tough to get hospital beds in districts like Calcutta and North 24-Parganas.

Both districts have been registering about 4,000 cases a day on an average, they said, adding that the Calcutta Metropolitan Area had just about 10,000 Covid beds.