Kolkata, May 5: Amid the surge in coronavirus cases, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday announced certain new measures to curtail the spread of virus in the state.According to the new guidelines, wearing of mask has been made mandatory in the state, and any social or political gatherings have been prohibited. Mamata Banerjee Writes to PM Narendra Modi on COVID-19 Management, Requests for 'Adequate' Vaccines, Oxygen Supply & More For West Bengal.

State transportation services, including metro, to operate at 50 per cent capacity. Meanwhile, the movement of local trains have been suspended in West Bengal from tomorrow. The state government's offices to operation at 50 per cent attendance. West Bengal Govt Announces Partial Lockdown; Malls, Restaurants, Gyms Shut Till Further Orders Amid COVID-19 Surge.

As per the new measures to curb the spread of coronavirus, sanitization of market places, educational institutions and offices has been made mandatory in West Bengal. All museums, planetarium, zoos, national parks have been closed in West Bengal to avert contamination.

According to the new guidelines, all markets, retailers, standalone shops will remain open for restricted hours in a day, from 7 am to 10 am and later from 5 pm to 7 pm only. Jewellery shops to remain open from 12 pm to 3 pm. Meanwhile, the banks will remain operational between 10 am to 2 pm. All shopping complexes, gyms, cinema halls, and beauty parlours in the state will be closed.

Moreover, starting from May 7 passengers arriving at various airports across West Bengal, need to have a negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours. Those who test positive for COVID-19 will be sent to 14-day quarantine, arranged by airport authority with state government.

Mamata Banerjee also said that random checking will be done in inter-state buses, RT-PCR negative report not older then 72 hours is mandatory for the passengers. The ruling is also applicable to the passengers of train services as well.

On Tuesday, West Bengal recorded its highest single-day spike in coronavirus deaths of 107. The total death toll now stands at 11,744. The state also witnessed the highest daily increase in COVID-19 cases so far with 17,639 infections being reported. The total coronavirus tally, as of now, in West Bengal stands at 8,98,533.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 05, 2021 03:23 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).