The Kolkata International Film Festival has been cancelled due to the Covid-19 surge in West Bengal.
The international film festival was scheduled to be held in the city from January 7 and continue till January 14. The cancellation news came a day after it was reported the festival would go ahead as scheduled with 50 per cent seating capacity, reports Hindustan Times.
Bengal on Tuesday reported 9,073 fresh coronavirus infections, an increase of over 49.27 per cent in a single day, with Kolkata accounting for over half of them, the state health department said in a bulletin.
Of the new positive cases, Kolkata recorded 4,759, up from 1,958 registered on the previous day, the bulletin said. The metropolis also reported five fatalities – the highest in the state.
A number of political leaders, including film director-turned Trinamool Congress MLA Raj Chakraborty, former India cricketer Laxmi Ratan Shukla, who is also an ex-minister of the state and singer-turned politician Babul Supriyo, and poet Srijato have tested positive for the virus.
About 200 doctors of Calcutta Medical College and Hospital and other city-based hospitals have been infected.
Bengal has been named by the Union health ministry as one of the state states of concern where there has been a major rise in cases.
A large number of restrictions have been reimposed in the city, including a closure of schools and colleges, besides capping the landing of flights from Delhi and Mumbai.
