Lockdown extended by 7 days in Darjeeling

DARJEELING/SILIGURI: With more than 1,000 cases in the last 15 days, the administration has extended complete lockdown in Darjeeling for another seven days starting from Sunday. According to state health officials, though the hills areas of the district is still partially unaffected, the spread is maximum in the plains, including areas such as Siliguri, Matigara and Phansidewa.
The previous lockdown was from July 23 to July 31.
Darjeeling that has added 1,151cases in the last 15 days, now stands after the five worst affected districts, including Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly and the two Parganas. Health officials said they wanted to break the chain and stop the spread of the disease to the hills areas.
“The alarming factor is that there has been a spike in the average number of cases after July 10 and on several days, the number of cases crossed 100,” a senior official of the administration said. When asked whether there are any early signs of community transmission, the health officials said, “We cannot comment on that.”
On Saturday, Darjeeling town remained closed with police personnel patrolling different areas requesting people to stay indoors. Meat shops opened for a brief period but downed shutters after the GTA announcement. Vegetable market and grocery shops remained closed and very few vehicles plied on the road. GTA chairman Anit Thapa said, “The number of cases being reported everyday is alarming. We have therefore decided to enforce further lockdown for seven days from Sunday. I urge the people to cooperate with us to fight the disease.”