West Bengal Govt Extends Lockdown In State Till July 31 As Covid-19 Cases Surge Past 15,000-Mark

However, the state government clarified that as far as government offices are concerned, the operations will continue in a staggered manner as of now.

West Bengal's COVID-19 death toll on Wednesday rose to 591. (File Photo/ Getty)

Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government on Wednesday announced extension of lockdown till July 31 in the wake of rising Coronavirus cases in the state. The announced of lockdown extension by Trinamool Congress (TMC) government came after Banerjee held an all-party meeting in Kolkata to discuss measures to tackle Covid-19 situation. The ongoing lockdown in West Bengal was to end on June 30. After the meeting, TMC supremo said  though there were differences of opinion among the leaders, it was finally decided to extend the curbs till the end of July with relaxations. "I announce this as the government decision, the lockdown has been extended in Bengal amidst rising COVID-19 numbers across the country. This is in order to help the entire nation. Our relaxations will continue. Schools, colleges and universities will remain shut till July 31," she said. However, the state government clarified that as far as government offices are concerned, the operations will continue in a staggered manner as of now. The all-party meet chaired by West Bengal CM was attended by BJP's West Bengal chief Dilip Ghosh, Manoj Howladar from Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Communist Party of India leader Swapan Banerjee, Pradip Bhattacharya from Congress. West Bengal's COVID-19 death toll on Wednesday rose to 591 as 11 more people succumbed to the disease, while 445 fresh cases pushed the state's tally to 15,173, health department official informed. Six deaths were reported from Kolkata, two from Howrah, and one each from South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and Darjeeling. State's discharge rate, however, improved to 63.94 per cent, with 484 patients recovering from COVID-19 since Tuesday. Besides the Covid-19 situation, Banerjee is also discussed the Centre's relief package to carry out reconstruction work in the Amphan-ravaged belts of the state. In what came as a tragic news earlier in day, TMC MLA in West Bengal assembly Tamonash Ghosh passed away in the hospital where he was admitted after testing positive for Coronavirus. As per initial information, he died because of multi organ failure. He suffered heart, kidney, liver and lung failure. His condition had worsened three days ago.