KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said schools in the state will reopen after the puja vacations, provided the COVID-19 situation does not change for worse.
She also said that a sanitisation drive will be conducted at the educational institutes before their campuses reopen for physical classes.
"Schools in Bengal will reopen after the puja (vacations), provided the situation is favourable. If the third wave does not turn out to be dangerous, we will sanitise the school buildings and reopen them. We are keen on restarting schools. We want students to go to schools," Banerjee told reporters.
Asserting that the COVID-19 situation in the state is currently "under control", the chief minister further clarified that if the number of cases spikes, as it did in Maharashtra and Kerala, "I am not sure what decisions would be taken then".
Earlier this month, the CM, following a meeting of the Global Advisory Board (GAB), headed by Nobel laureate Abhijit Vinayak Banerjee, had hinted that that the state government is looking into the option of opening schools and colleges on alternate days after the puja vacation.
Incidentally, another Nobel laureate, Amartya Sen, during a webinar on Sunday, said "there is no instant answer to the debate over opening of school campuses amid the COVID-19 pandemic".
Sen further said that children are suffering a lot as schools remain closed but concerns over their health cannot be ignored.
Educational institutes in Bengal have largely remained shut since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country in March last year.
Meanwhile, large housing complexes of Kolkata are gearing up to organise the Durga Puja this year, albeit in a low-key manner amid the Covid-19 pandemic, making vaccination compulsory for priests, 'dhakis' (drummers) and everyone associated with the four-day festival to be held in October.
Though several housing societies have completed the 'khuti puja' - a ritual of worshipping a pole before putting up Durga puja pandals, they may have to alter some plans later as the threat of a possible third wave of the pandemic is there.
"Priests, dhakis, pandal makers, electricians, those who will go through the nitty-gritty - all associated with the puja have to be inoculated with at least one dose of vaccine," Silver Spring housing complex secretary Indranil Choudhury said.
Entry of visitors from outside during the puja will be regulated and it has been made mandatory for them to get at least one jab of the vaccine or carry Covid-19 negative certificate, he said.
"But we may have to make changes in the plans in case we are hit with the third wave (of the pandemic)," said the secretary of the housing society in East Kolkata where the "khuti puja" was held on Raksha Bandhan day on August 22 following covid norms.
Only a certain number of puja committee members will have access inside the pandal, he said.
Preparations for the puja, which will be held on a small scale, are in full swing in Urbana Housing Complex of south Kolkata, said its resident, film-maker Arindam Sil.
"Of the 3000 residents in our society, there are more than 700 children. They were depressed for the past several months. The occasion of khuti puja on August 15 broke that gloom," Sil said.
The organisers are not taking any chances.
They have made vaccination compulsory for all involved, keeping in mind the situation and the threat of the third wave, he said.
"Entry of outsiders will be regulated and everyone present will have to wear masks. The puja will be held but the scale of celebrations will be decided later keeping in mind the situation in October," an organiser of the Central Enclave said.
At Durganagar Government Housing in the northern fringes of the city, the cultural soiree has been scrapped like last year.
The Durga Puja was held in a similar fashion in all these housing complexes last year when the pandemic struck.
The Calcutta High Court last year declared all puja pandals across West Bengal no-entry zones to prevent the surge of Covid-19 cases.
The state health department has decided to increase the number of paediatric beds especially at critical care treatment facilities across the state in view of the possible third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, a senior official said on Monday.
A decision was made to add beds to the existing critical care units (CCUs), paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) and neonatal intensive care units (NICUs).
The number of Sick Newborn Care Unit (SNCU) beds will also be augmented to make ready a total of 2,476 beds, the official said.
"Training of doctors including paediatricians and general duty medical officers, the nursing staff and other support staff have been arranged," he added.
Meanwhile, seven people succumbed to Covid-19 in the state on Monday taking the death toll to 18,371, the health department said.
The tally went up to 15,43,496 with 510 fresh cases.
At least 628 people have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, the department said, adding that the discharge rate improved to 98.20 per cent.
Till Monday, at least 15,15,789 patients have been cured of coronavirus in the state.
The number of active cases was recorded at 9,336.
Meanwhile, over five lakh vaccine doses were administered in West Bengal taking the total number of people vaccinated to 3.67 crore, a health department official said.
Of them, over one crore have received both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine.