By PTI
KOLKATA: With daily COVID-19 cases doubling within one day, the West Bengal School Education Department has asked teachers and non-teaching staffers having cough, cold or mild fever to not attend schools till they test negative for the infection.
The state registered more than 1,000 fresh cases on Wednesday after a gap of nearly six months.
The daily count crossed 2,000 on Thursday.
“Primary, secondary and higher secondary schools have been asked to ensure that teachers and non-teaching employees don’t come to the institutions if they have a cold, cough or mild fever.”
“Also, they must get tested for COVID-19, and will be allowed to enter the schools only if the results return negative. They will have to produce the reports to the health department,” an official told PTI on Friday.
While physical classes for standards 9-12 have resumed on November 16, the state government has been mulling to restart lower classes in the offline mode in a phased manner from next year, Education Minister Bratya Basu had earlier said.
However, with the fresh spike in cases, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee recently said that the government will review the situation and take steps accordingly, keeping in mind the safety of the students.
Meanwhile, the Dakshineswar Temple and Belur Math, global headquarters of Ramakrishna Mission as well as Kalighat, a major Shakti-peetha shrine in the eastern metropolis and North Kolkata’s Thanthania Temple, will be closed to devotees on New Year’s Day, when footfalls in temples are very high, on account of the rising graph of Covid-19 infections in the city.
The trustee of Dakshineswar temple Kushal Chowdhury said Thursday the temple authorities were forced to take the decision as lakhs of devotees gather at the shrine on January 1 and there is no mechanism to ensure, physical distancing or enforcing Covid norms.
The temple, which is dedicated to Goddess Kali, will open again on January 2, he added.
A spokesman for Belur Math, which was set up by Swami Vivekananda, said “Due to unavoidable circumstances our premises will remain closed for devotees from January 1 to 4.”
The Math premises will open on January 5 for visitors, he said.
Belur Math had to take the decision as millions of people would otherwise be present at the premises on January 1 and it may trigger the possibility of contamination, he added.
Said Deepankar Chatterjee, Secretary of the Executive Committee of Kalighat Temple Sebayit (hereditory servitors) Council “we will be keeping the Garbha Griha (Sanctum Sanctorum) of the temple closed on January 1, as a precautionary measure and will hold a meeting on Jan 3 to decide on our further course of action.” The Thanthania Sidheswari Kali temple will also stay closed on January 1 and 2 keeping in view the anticipated crowd rush and the Covid pandemic, said Anjan Ghosh, Trustee of the three centuries old temple in North Kolkata.
The Ramakrishna Mission centers at Cossipore Udyanbati and `Mayer Bari ‘, the house where Sarada Ma, Paramahansa Ramakrishna’s wife lived, in North Kolkata will be closed on New Year’s day as well.
Kalpataru Utsav is organized at Cossipore Udyanbati on January 1 every year to commemorate the day when Pramahansa Ramakrishna revealed himself to be an ‘Avatar’ or God incarnate in 1886.
However, devotees will not be allowed on January 1 and 2 in the two premises though puja and rituals to be held as usual, officials said.
This is the second year that the entry of devotees will be restricted during Kalpataru Utsav.
In 2020 too it was closed due to the pandemic.
The state said on Thursday it is suspending all direct flights from the UK and those emanating from other high-risk countries from January 3, amid growing scare over the rise in number of Covid cases of the omicron variant, an official said.
State’s Home Secretary B P Gopalika wrote to the Union civil aviation ministry informing it about the state’s decision due to the rising number of patients detected with the omicron strain of the contagion.
West Bengal has so far reported 11 cases of the omicron variant.
“In view of the rising number of omicron cases globally and as well as within the country, the state government has decided to temporarily and until further orders suspended all direct flights from United Kingdom to Kolkata from January 3, 2022.”
Flights, which is an at risk country as notified notified by MOHFW, Government of India, will not be allowed in the state and any NOCs which have been issued stand withdrawn,” he wrote in a letter to Rajiv Bansal, Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation .
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said coronavirus-related restrictions cannot be imposed everywhere as it may impact the economy as has been the case since the onset of the pandemic.
Speaking to reporters while visiting the Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas district where the annual Ganga Sagar Mela will begin next month, Banerjee said COVID-19 cases in Kolkata were rising as it was a transit point for people travelling on trains and flights.
“Most omicron cases are being detected among people coming on flights from the UK. It’s a fact that the omicron carriers are coming via international flights. The Centre must decide on imposing restrictions on flights from countries where omicron cases are high,” she said.
Banerjee said that her government was reviewing the emerging pandemic situation “seriously” and hinted that a decision will be taken regarding restriction, taking the economy into account.
“We have to look after the safety and security of the people. We will soon make a decision. We will target places where the cases are going up. We cannot impose restrictions everywhere because that may affect the economy as it has in the last two years,” she said.
“Let us assess the situation first. In the last two years, business has gone down to zero. We will review the situation at schools and colleges. We will also assess if omicron is spreading among kids. A decision will only be made after that,” Banerjee added.
The chief minister said the COVID-19 situation in West Bengal improved in the last six months.
“COVID-19 cases came down in the last six-seven months. Hospitals started using the dedicated COVID beds to treat other patients. So, we will have to review the current situation,” she said.
“COVID-19 cases in Kolkata are rising because it’s the transit point for people travelling on trains and flights. I will request everyone to follow COVID guidelines and wear masks,” Banerjee said.
Asked whether the state government was mulling any restrictions for the pilgrims coming to West Bengal to attend Ganga Sagar Mela, the chief minister said the congregation was of the common people.
“You don’t worry about Ganga Sagar.
This is not mine, but a festival attended by people from across the country.
How can I stop someone coming from UP or Bihar? I can’t stop anyone as Ganga Sagar belongs to everyone in the country,” Banerjee said as she boarded a helicopter for Kolkata, ending her three-day tour of the island after reviewing the preparedness.
She also urged the people to maintain extreme caution.
“Omicron is not fatal but spreading fast. The other day, (MLA) Tapas Roy was present at Bobby’s (Firhad Hakim) meeting. Tapas is now Covid-positive. I don’t know how many more people will now be affected,” Banerjee said.
Five persons, who returned to West Bengal from foreign countries recently, were found to be infected with the omicron variant of COVID-19, an official said on Thursday.
With this, the state’s omicron tally rose to 16, he said.
Samples of six people diagnosed with COVID-19 were sent for genome sequencing as all of them returned from foreign countries.
Of them, five people were found to be omicron-positive, the official said.
Among the new omicron patients is a five-year-old girl who returned from the UK, he said.
