Mamata mulls shutting schools, colleges as Covid-19 cases rise in India's West Bengal

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said on Wednesday schools and colleges in the state could be closed for some time amid rising number of Covid-19 cases.

Banerjee held an administrative meeting wherein she asked officials to review the current pandemic situation in the state and also begin identifying containment zones in Kolkata given the high rate of infection in the city.

Educational institutions reopened in the state on November 16 after a gap of about 20 months.

Bengal on Tuesday witnessed a massive jump in single-day Covid-19 cases having logged 752 infections, up from 439 reported on the preceding day. Of the 752 fresh cases, Kolkata accounted for 382 infections, followed by North 24 Parganas with 102. On Monday, Kolkata recorded 204 infections, the state health bulletin data showed.

The cumulative Covid-19 tally of Bengal has climbed to 16,31,817 with the active case count standing at 7,457.

Bengal is also one of the top 10 worst-hit states in India by the Omicron variant of Covid-19. The eastern state has so far reported 11 cases, of which, only one patient has recovered so far, according to the data shared by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.

Earlier this month, the Mamata-led government extended restrictions related to Covid-19 in the state till January 15 after the first Omicron case was confirmed in a seven-year-old boy. The restrictions include night curfew between 11pm and 5am. However, the same has been relaxed between 24 December and 1 January in view of Christmas and New Year celebrations.