In view of rising Covid cases in West Bengal, the state government has announced new restrictions to be implemented, including bringing down the frequency of flights coming from Delhi and Mumbai to twice a week. The flights from the two metros can land at Kolkata, Bagdogra and Durgapur. The two metro cities are currently recording a surge in Omicron cases. 

Reviewing the sharp surge of cases in the past week and a positivity rate of over 12 per cent, the state government on Sunday issued fresh guidelines to curb the spread. The picture doesn&rsquot look good for flyers coming from Delhi and Mumbai whose travel has been restricted to Mondays and Fridays, owing to the highly transmissible variant active in these cities. The restriction will come into effect from Tuesday, January 5. 

As per the previous announcement made by the State, all international tourists coming from non-risk countries would be subjected to a mandatory covid test. The airlines would randomly select 10 percent of the passengers for an RT-PCR test while the remaining 90 percent will undergo the Rapid Antigen Test on their arrival.

New Restrictions

• The state government has restricted public movement between the hours 10 PM to 5 AM. Only essential and emergency services shall be permitted in these hours.
• For tourists in West Bengal, access to entertainment will be restricted as all entertainment parks, zoos, tourist places shall remain closed. Shopping in the Cultural Capital of India would also be a herculean task with markets and malls allowed to operate with only 50 per cent capacity, opening till 10 PM. This will apply equally to restaurants, cinema halls and other entertainment hotspots.
• No more than 50 persons shall be allowed for marriage related ceremonies as per the recent press release. Organizers of religious and other cultural ceremonies shall have to abide by the same protocols.
• Travel in the state shall also cause inconvenience in the coming days as the guidelines restrict the operation of local trains up till 7 PM with 50 per cent capacity. Metro trains shall run as usual but with half the seating capacity.

The new cases in the state stood at 6,153 on January 2, 2022.