Coronavirus: West Bengal shuts down restaurants, pubs, bars till March 31, postpones class 12 exams

Kolkata: The West Bengal government on Saturday ordered all restaurants, bars, pubs, nightclubs, amusement parks, museums and zoos to remain shut till March 31 as a precautionary measure in wake of the coronavirus pandemic, a senior official said.

The order, which aims to prevent all non-essential social gatherings, comes into effect on Sunday morning, he said.

The directive also applies to massage parlours and hookah bars, the official said, adding that strict action would be taken in case of any violation.

"In order to further check non-essential social gatherings which lead to spread of the virus from infected persons to healthy persons we have ordered the shutdown," the official said.

Three persons, with travel history to the UK, have tested positive for the coronavirus in West Bengal.

The ongoing class 12 state board examinations in West Bengal have been postponed till April 15 as a precautionary measure in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the higher



education department announced on Saturday.

In view of the prevailing situation, the West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education has been asked to postpone the examinations which are yet to be held, till April 15, education minister Partha Chatterjee told a press meet.

As per the directive, the examinations scheduled to be held on March 23, March 25 and March 27 will now be held after April 15.

The minister said the higher education department will take the decision about conducting the examinations after reviewing the situation as per the advisory of the health department.

The class 12 state board examinations began on March 13.

The CBSE and the CISCE have already postponed all scheduled examinations.

Chatterjee said that the government has received several complaints that some of the private schools have not followed the state's advisory to suspend internal examinations and warned them of action if the decision is not complied with.