KOLKATA: Metro Railway is witnessing a fall in passenger count, amid the restrictions imposed in the state in the wake of Covid-19 scare, its spokesperson said on Tuesday.
On Monday, passenger footfall stood at 5.32 lakh against an average of 6.2 to 6.5 lakh on any weekday, she said.
With schools, colleges and universities shut, and cinema halls and tourist places closed, passenger count of Kolkata Metro, the city's transport lifeline, has dwindled.
As a precautionary measure, intensive cleaning and sanitisation of rakes are being carried out regularly, Metro spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said.
Medical officers of Metro Railway are also generating awareness on the disease, Banerjee said.
"A fever clinic and an isolation ward have been opened at Tapan Sinha Memorial Hospital to tackle any coronavirus- related emergency," she said.
The passenger count in buses, too, has gone down over the last few days, West Bengal Transport Secretary NS Nigam said.
"Monday being the first working day of the week, there is usually a huge rush.the number of commuters, however, was found to have dipped yesterday," he said.
Taxis and cab aggregators have also reported a decline in demand in the city, with fewer vehicles plying on the streets as several office-goers worked from home.
Woman pilot of ship, man returning from UK in isolation ward.
A woman pilot of a ship, who had recently travelled to Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, and another person returning home from England have been kept at the isolation ward of a government hospital here with symptoms of coronavirus, a health department official said on Tuesday.
The woman pilot had been hospitalised with fever and cold at a Kolkata Port Trust (KoPT) hospital from where she was brought to the isolation ward of the Beliaghata Infectious Diseases hospital, he said.
Swabs have been collected from the person who has been admitted to the same ward of the hospital though doctors were yet to decide whether or not medical tests will be conducted on the woman, the official said.
Five other persons were under observation at the same isolation ward.
"Their swabs have been collected and sent for medical tests. We are waiting for the report," he said.