Refrain from panic-buying, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee appeals to citizens

KOLKATA: Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday issued a fervent appeal to citizens: do not indulge in panic-buying, and take social distancing norms seriously during the three-week countrywide lockdown, on a day two more Covid-19 cases were confirmed in Kolkata, taking the state’s count up to nine.
In her address, Banerjee also announced a state-wide lockdown from 5pm, seven hours ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s midnight start.

“Essential commodities and services such as markets, medicine shops, grocery shops will remain open,” Banerjee said during her address. “I request all of you not to go for panic-buying. Don’t crowd the shops. Maintain safe distance. Your hands shouldn’t touch others; your breath shouldn’t reach others. People should maintain safe distance while standing in a queue in shops and banks. Don’t play cricket on the streets.”
Earlier in the day, Banerjee had extended both the geographical ambit and period of the lockdown to March 31. PM Modi’s address later stretched it — nationally — till April 14. On Sunday, the state government had clamped the “complete safety regulations” on the city and district municipal areas from March 25 to March 27.
Banerjee also announced an assistance scheme — called ‘Prochestha’ — to address the problems faced by daily wage-earners who are facing a loss of income because of the lockdown. Under the scheme, if they apply to the government between April and April 30, they would be entitled to a monthly grant of Rs 1,000. Prior to this, the state government had decided to give free rations to a total of 7.9 crore people below the poverty line and students under the mid-day meal programme. Each family under this arrangement will get five kilos of rice and wheat a month.
Both of the state’s new cases had a recent travel history abroad. The chief minister, during her address, advocated extreme caution because of the rise in Covid-19 cases, particularly those who carried the virus from abroad. Later, she paid a visit to Medical College Hospital, Kolkata, SSKM and RG Kar to take stock of the state’s preparedness in treating the victims.
“The situation has reached alarming proportions,” Banerjee said. “We are at a crossroads. We were doing a case study that revealed that it took 67 days for the virus to affect one lakh people. The same number of people were affected in the next 11 days. And now, another one lakh people have been affected in only four days.... Many people have returned home. I appeal to them to stay in home isolation for 14 days. We need to take the virus seriously. You have seen how all the four members of a family got affected after a person carried the virus back home from abroad.”