Mamata Banerjee distributes essential commodities to people amid lockdown

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday distributed essential commodities to people at Kalighat night shelter amid nationwide lockdown.

She was spotted wearing a mask and following social distancing to avoid getting infected with the novel coronavirus.

Earlier, Banerjee had written to Chief Ministers of 18 states requesting them to provide basic amenities such as shelter, food and medical support to the workers of West Bengal stranded in their states due to the lockdown.

West Bengal Fire and Emergency Services department also sanitized Siliguri district hospital by spraying disinfectants in the hospital premises as a precautionary measure against coronavirus.

In his address to the nation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a 21-day lockdown in the entire country beginning midnight to deal with the spread of coronavirus, saying that "social distancing" is the only option to deal with the disease, which spreads rapidly.

Five more positive COVID-19 cases have been reported from West Bengal on Friday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 15.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had reported a total of 724 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in India.