Kolkata: The Kolkata Airport announced that restrictions on flights arriving in Kolkata from six cities -Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Chennai, Nagpur and Ahmedabad has been extended till August 15, amid the prevailing coronavirus crisis. The step has been taken as these cities are Covid -19 hotspots.
On July 17, the Kolkata Airport had announced that restrictions on flights arriving in Kolkata from these six cities have been extended till July 31. Earlier on July 4, the state government restricted the flight movements to Kolkata airport from the six metro cities till July 19. The West Bengal government has requested the Civil Aviation Ministry to suspend flight operations to Kolkata from high-risk cities.
The airlines that will be impacted include Indigo, Spicejet, Vistara, and Air India. Airlines are operating on domestic routes with up to 30 per cent network capacity, as per the DGCA orders. The pandemic has so far claimed the lives of over 2,739 people in the state till Monday. According to the health department said that the caseload in the state so far crossed 75,000. The number of active cases stood at 19,900. Since July 29, 2,140 patients recovered from the disease, improving the discharge rate to 68.33 per cent, the bulletin said.
Unlock 3 guidelines
A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), issued new guidelines for the opening up of more activities in areas outside the containment zones, the West Bengal government issued directives for the state. In Unlock 3, which came into effect from August 1, the process of phased re-opening of activities has been extended further. However, strict enforcement of lockdown in containment zones will continue till August 31.
In West Bengal schools, colleges, educational institutions, cinema hall, swimming pools, parks will not be allowed to open. Along with these, social, political and religious gatherings will also not be allowed. On the other hand, yoga centres, gyms will be allowed to open from August 5.
