New Delhi: Officials said that in view of the increase in cases of omicron across the world and the country, the West Bengal government has decided to temporarily suspend all direct flights from the United Kingdom to Kolkata from January 3 till further orders.
According to a statement issued by the government, all flights from ‘at risk’ countries (notified by the Government of India) will also not be allowed in the state.
The statement said, “All passengers arriving from non-risk countries will have to mandatorily undergo COVID test on arrival (the airline will have to select 10% of the total passengers for RT-PCR test and the remaining 90 % will have to undergo RAT test on arrival).”
West Bengal government has decided to suspend all incoming flights from UK to Kolkata airport from January 3 pic.twitter.com/uklpWGYmTJ
— ANI (@ANI) December 30, 2021
Meanwhile, fresh Covid-19 cases in West Bengal have crossed the 1,000-mark in the last 24 hours – the first time in the last 177 days.
According to the latest data from the state health department, the number of fresh cases in Bengal stands at 1,089, with four districts including Kolkata, Howrah and North and South 24 Parganas recording more than 80% of the infections.
According to the data, 540 cases were reported in Kolkata, 145 in North 24 Parganas, 79 in South 24 Parganas and 60 in Howrah in the last 24 hours.
The health department said the state has reported 12 deaths in the time period.
Besides this, 11 new omicron cases were reported in Bengal so far, of which five have no travel history.
“It’s even more worrying because if people get infected with omicron If there is no travel history, there is a possibility of community spread. A senior health department official said, “We are trying to trace the contact to know the reason behind the outbreak.
The state health department is gearing up to meet the challenges of a possible third wave of COVID-19. In a notification, it has asked all concerned to bring down the COVID testing to at least 40,000 per day.
Health experts are of the opinion that the rapid spread of the virus is a major concern. According to him, around 30,000 to 35,000 people can get infected daily in a short period of time.
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