Kolkata: In view of the declining cases of coronavirus, the West Bengal government has decided to reopen schools, colleges, and other educational institutions that were closed for a very long time due to the COVID pandemic. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced on Monday in a press conference that schools for classes 8 to 12, colleges, universities, and polytechnic institutes will reopen on February 3, 2022.
CM Banarjee said the state government "will decide on reopening primary schools sometime later."
At the same time, she announced a host of relaxations in the continuing COVID-19 restrictions. The new relaxed COVID-19 protocols will be valid till February 15, 2022, and after that, the state government will take further decisions after reviewing the situation.
The night curfew will be relaxed for an hour and instead of the current curfew period of 10 pm to 5 am, it will be from 11 pm to 5 am. Private offices will now be able to operate with 75 percent of the staff strength instead of the earlier limit of 50 percent. “The fresh relaxations have been allowed keeping in mind the declining cases in the state,” the chief minister said.
Similar relaxations were allowed for bars, restaurants, and cinema halls, which will now be able to operate with 75 percent of capacity from the earlier ceiling of 50 percent. So will be the case for swimming pools and gymnasiums.
“We have decided to allow flights from New Delhi and Mumbai to operate on a daily basis from now. Similarly, we have decided to lift restrictions on the flights from London. However, certain restrictions will continue in case of the flights from Bangalore,” the chief minister said.
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