Kolkata: West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee govt on Saturday clamped down on non-essential social gatherings by shutting all restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, hookah bars and massage parlours besides amusement parks and zoos from Sunday to March 31 to prevent spread of the Corona Virus infection.
A state government notification ordered that all gatherings including social gatherings be avoided completely, and even in unavoidable cases kept to bare minimum to ensure social distancing and threatened strict legal action in case of any violation.
With the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state going up to three, amid reports that at least two of them had roamed the streets and shopping malls, the state government notification said “social gatherings which facilitate the spread of the virus remain an area of concern”.
“In order to further check non-essential social gathering which leads to spread of the virus from infected person to healthy person it is ordered to shut all restaurants, pubs, bars, clubs, night clubs, hookah bars, massage parlours, amusement parks, museums, zoos with immediate effect from 6 a.m. on March 22, 2020.
“It is also ordered that all gatherings including social gatherings should be avoided completely. In such cases also, the gathering should be reduced to bare minimum … so as to ensure proper social distancing.
“Strict legal action will be taken in case of any violation. This order will remain in force till 31st March,” the notification said.