New Delhi: The West Bengal government on Wednesday (December 15) extended the existing COVID-19 restrictions up to January 15, 2022, after the state recorded its first case of Omicron variant earlier in the day.
According to the government order, “Restrictions related to the movement of people and vehicles between 11 pm and 5 am shall be relaxed for Christmas and New Year celebration during Dec 24 to Jan 1.”
#Omicron: West Bengal Govt extends existing COVID restrictions up to Jan 15
Restrictions related to the movement of people and vehicles between 11 pm and 5 am shall be relaxed for Christmas and New Year celebration during Dec 24 to Jan 1, the order reads pic.twitter.com/z6e6wwwQqz
— ANI (@ANI) December 15, 2021
All shops, restaurants and bars are allowed to remain open as per the normal operational hours and late closing of bars may be permitted as per the extant rules, from December 24, 2021 till January 1, 2022, the order added.
“District administration, police commissionerates and local authorities shall ensure strict compliance of the stated directives,” the government said.
A seven-year-old boy, resident of Bengal's Murshidabad district, tested positive for Omicron, a senior official of the health department said earlier today. "The boy flew with his parents from Abu Dhabi to Hyderabad, where he tested positive for Omicron. He had not entered Hyderabad city. He returned to Kolkata on December 11. The state health department was alerted about his Omicron report by authorities in Hyderabad only on Wednesday morning," the official was quoted as saying by PTI.
However, the child's parents tested negative for the new COVID strain.
Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that 77 countries have reported cases of Omicron so far. "The reality is that Omicron is probably in most countries, even if it hasn’t been detected yet. Even if Omicron does cause less severe disease, the sheer number of cases could once again overwhelm unprepared health systems," the WHO chief warned.
(With agency inputs)
