Kolkata | Jagran News Desk: The West Bengal government has decided to distribute face masks on this Raksha Bandhan instead of rakhis amid fears over a possible third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Speaking to a leading English daily, a senior West Bengal government official said that nearly 6.35 lakh rakhis would be purchased for this purpose.
"The police and other departments would also be distributing masks," the official told Hindustan Times.
Earlier, the Yogi Adityanath-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh had announced free bus services for women across the state for Raksha Bandhan.
Raksha Bandhan would be celebrated this year on August 22.
Meanwhile, West Bengal had emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot in India during the peak of the second wave in April and May after which a complete lockdown was imposed in the state.
Though most of the restrictions have been lifted, the state government has urged people to practice appropriate COVID-19 norms and guidelines to ensure cases do not rise again. It has also decided to increase vaccination and urged the Centre to provide more vaccine doses.
"There are apprehensions that a third wave could hit sometime around September. The festive season is coming too. We need to be on guard," said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
West Bengal on Wednesday reported 646 new cases that pushed its COVID-19 tally to 15.40 lakh, said the state health department, adding that seven fatalities were reported during the same period.
In West Bengal, 18,325 people have succumbed to the infection while 15.12 lakh patients have recovered from the infection, pushing the state's recovery rate to 98.18 per cent, said the health department.
West Bengal has thus far tested 1.64 crore samples for COVID-19, including 44,044 in the last 24 hours, it said, adding the positivity rate stood at 1.47 per cent. The state has so far vaccinated 3.49 crore people, including 3,49,079 on Wednesday, the health department added.
Posted By: Aalok Sensharma
