Mamata visits several areas of Kolkata, tells people to stay indoors to fight COVID-19

Amid the ongoing visit by central teams to the state to assess the COVID-19 situation, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday toured a number of places of Kolkata and urged people to stay indoors and exercise necessary precaution to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Banerjee's short tour of the metropolis in the afternoon included the minority-dominated areas of Park Circus, Topsia and Rajabazar.

The BJP later claimed that the chief ministers visit proved that lockdown norms have been violated. "I would request all my brothers and sisters to please stay indoors as this is the only way to stop the spread of this contagion. We have never witnessed such a lockdown, but it is needed to fight this disease.

"If you face any problem, please let the police know about it. They will help you out," Banerjee said through public address system from inside her car. The TMC supremo said although she is unable to meet the residents of the localities in person, she is always there to help them and made a promise to meet them once the COVID-19 crisis is over.

The Union home ministry said on Monday morning the COVID-19 situation is "especially serious" in Mumbai, Pune, Indore, Jaipur, Kolkata and a few other places in West Bengal, and that the violation of lockdown measures risk the spread of the novel coronavirus. The central government has constituted six Inter- Ministerial Central Teams (IMCTs) to make an on-spot assessment of the COVID-19 situation in these places.

West Bengal BJP president Dilip Ghosh claimed that her visit was aimed at hiding the lockdown violations. "The chief minister is doing the job of a local police station. The fact that she has gone there to ask the people not to come out proves that there have been lockdown violations. The state government is trying to stop the central teams also proves that the state is trying to hide something," Ghosh said.

Alleging non-cooperation from the state government, members of the IMCT to Kolkata and Jalpaiguri in north Bengal lay confined to guest houses for the most part of the day before the state's officials accompanied them to visit several areas following a stern letter from the Union home secretary. Meanwhile, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee accused the central government of playing with the lives of Bengalis by sending faulty kits to the state and then sending central teams to monitor the coronavirus situation.

"You cripple government of West Bengal with faulty kits from ICMR & then send IMCTs to monitor GoWB's performance while keeping the State Govt in dark. In the name of combating the COVID-19 crisis, you're playing with the lives of Bengalis while your leaders use skewed testing nos for fake propaganda," Abhishek, the nephew of Mamata Banerjee and an MP, said in a tweet. The West Bengal government has earlier alleged that the COVID-19 testing kits supplied by the NICED, the Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) nodal agency in the state, a fortnight ago were "apparently defective" as they showed inconclusive results leading to repeated confirmatory tests and delay in diagnosis.

The NICED later withdrew the consignment of defective testing kits from some of the state-run laboratories in West Bengal..