West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday said that she has taken strict measures to control the spread of the coronavirus infection in the state, reported PTI. “A total lockdown will hamper livelihood of people,” she added.

At a press conference in the state secretariat, the chief minister said that her government has allowed religious and cultural programmes to be held with a maximum of 50 citizens, reported ANI. “No Eid prayers and gatherings will be there at Red Road [in Kolkata] as decided by Muslim leaders,” she said. “I request that there should be no big gatherings as azaan [Islamic call to prayer] can be heard from home.”

Banerjee also urged the Centre to facilitate free-of-cost vaccination against the coronavirus for all. The chief minister said that her government has sought three crore vaccine doses from the Centre, of which one crore will be distributed among private hospitals.

Last week, the West Bengal government had moved the Supreme Court, saying that the Centre should ensure Covid-19 vaccines are made available to the states for free.

Meanwhile, West Bengal on Sunday registered its highest single-day rise in coronavirus cases, logging 19,441 infections, reported PTI. With this, the overall infection tally in the state rose to 9,93,159 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. The toll climbed to 12,327 after 124 patients died.