West Bengal extends ongoing lockdown till April 30

The West Bengal government has announced extension of the state-wide lockdown till April 30 and closure of all educational institutes till June 10 as the state registered six new Covid-19 cases, taking the total to 122.

In addition to West Bengal, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Telangana and Punjab also announced to extend the lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

The ongoing 21-day nationwide lockdown to contain the Covid-19 crisis, announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 24, is scheduled to end on April 14 and the Indian government is considering a request made by most states to extend the lockdown by two more weeks.

West Bengal Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said the state government will impose a 14-day 'total lockdown' in 10 hotspots from where several Covid-19 cases have been reported.

He did not name the areas but said local markets and all roads in those areas will be completely shut down and no one will be allowed to step out of their homes.

The report of complete lockdown in some parts of the state led to panic buying as people in large numbers queued outside shops to stock up on essential commodities in Dum Dum, Nagerbazar, Bhawanipore and Alipore localities.

The state government is also planning to conduct rapid coronavirus tests in the hotspots in the next four to five days.

During interaction with the prime minister on Saturday, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee demanded financial aid for the state and a Rs 10 lakh crore relief package for the state.

The West Bengal government has decided to extend virtual classes originally scheduled for seven days by more than two months, having received an "overwhelming response" from the state board students.

State Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said the decision was taken by the government to make up for the classes lost by the students of Classes 9 to 12 in state-aided and state-run schools owing to the lockdown.

The minister also said that the government was planning to start a similar initiative for students of Classes 5 to 8.