West Bengal on Monday registered 9,385 new COVID-19 infections in the past 24 hours and the case positivity rate in the State dropped to 26.43%. Over the past few days, the State had recorded more than 20,000 cases and the case positivity rate was over 30%.
Even as the fresh cases reduced, the State recorded 33 deaths in the past 24 hours. The occupancy rate of COVID-19 beds in the State stands at 6.38%.The active cases as on Monday remained at 1,58,623.
The State government also announced additional relaxations allowing gyms in the State to open with 50% of capacity, “provided staff and users are fully vaccinated or are RT-PCR negative”.
“ Jatra [theatre performances] shall be allowed in a very restricted manner upto 9 p.m. only with 50 % of capacity in an outdoor venue and, in case of an indoor venue, with a maximum of 200 people or 50 % of the capacity, whichever is lower,” the notification by the State government said.
The West Bengal government has also allowed “outdoor shooting for films and TV programmes” with adherence to physical distancing norms and COVID-appropriate protocols.
During the day, the organisers of the Kolkata Book Fair held a meeting with government officials and talks were held over postponement of the event. The book fair is scheduled to be held in the last week of January.
