West Bengal: Schools, colleges to remain closed till August 31, likely to reopen on Teachers' Day

After West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced bi-weekly complete lockdown in the state till August, she stated that all schools, colleges, and educational institutions in the state will remain closed till August 31 as COVID-19 pandemic shows no sign of stopping.

Mamata stated that the administration is thinking of reopening schools from September 5 which incidentally also happens to be Teachers' Day, and continue classes till Durga Puja only if the COVID-19 situation normalises.

She said that a meeting will be held at the end of August to plan on whether to re-open schools or not, adding that schools would only be open on alternate days.

“Till 31st August all educational institutions will remain closed in the state. If the situation improves then we will think about reopening schools on alternate days starting on Teacher’s day till Durga Puja. But only if situation permits,” Mamata Banerjee said on Tuesday.

Last week, the state government announced a complete lockdown on two days of the week in addition to broad-based lockdown in containment zones.

This week, however, will not see complete lockdown on Saturday, August 1 due to Eid-al-Adha festival. There will be lockdown in containment zones on August 1 and complete lockdown on Sunday. 

There will also not be complete lockdown on Monday, August 3 because of Raksha Bandhan. 

Next bi-weekly lockdown will be enforced on August 8-9 (Saturday, Sunday). 

Bi-weekly complete lockdown in West Bengal will be imposed on August 2, 5, 8, 9, 16, 17, 22, 23, 29, 30.

The COVID-19 case tally in the state includes more than 19,000 active cases and 1,487 deaths.