Kolkata, Jul 7 (PTI) The West Bengal government on Tuesday decided to expand the areas under lockdown and impose tougher restrictions from July 9 to stem the relentless spike in COVID-19 cases, a senior official said.

The containment zones and buffer zones around them will be clubbed together and constitute a "broad-based" containment zone where total lockdown will be imposed from 5 pm on Thursday.

Also Read | SSC CGL Tier 1 2019 Marks and Results: Final Answer Keys Released on ssc.nic.in, Scores to be Out Soon.

Local authorities will try and arrange home delivery of essential commodities for the residents of these areas, he said.

"These broader containment zones may be subjected to strict lockdown and all offices, government and private, all non-essential activities, congregations, transportations and all marketing, industrial and trading activities be closed," an order issued by Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Alapan Bandyopadhyay said.

Also Read | Kamal Nath Preps For MP Bypolls, Trains Guns at Jyotiraditya Scindia, Shivraj Singh Chouhan With 'Tiger, Mama' Jibes.

It, however, did not mention how long the fresh spell of the shutdown will last.

The current phase of lockdown, in force till July 31, was largely limited to containment zones alone.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)