New Delhi: Taking another step in the direction of unlocking, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announced that cinemas, plays and all musical shows shall be now allowed to function with 50 participants or less from the next month.

The performance oriented stage shows and activities which shall be permitted from October 1 onwards in the states include:

  • Jatras

  • Plays

  • OATs (Open Air Theatres)

  • Cinemas

  • Musical shows

  • Dance shows

  • Recital & magic shows


The activities shall be allowed to function with 50 participants or less, said Banerjee in a tweet. She said the move was aimed to help the states regain normalcy.

The activities will be subject to adherence to physical distancing norms, wearing of masks & compliance to precautionary protocols, she said.


The COVID-19 death toll in West Bengal on Saturday went up to 4,721 with 56 more people succumbing to the disease, the state health department said in a bulletin. The tally increased to 2,44,240 after 3,181 people tested positive for the infection.

In the last 24 hours, 2,955 patients recovered from coronavirus taking the states discharge rate to 87.61 per cent, the bulletin said. The number of active patients is now 25,544.

Altogether 43,285 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the state since Friday.