In a bizarre move to contain the Coronavirus pandemic, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has asked administrative authorities on October 6 for forensic inspection of truck tyres incoming from other States. She was of the view that the moving vehicles coming from other States were the reason behind the rising of Coronavirus cases in Jhargram district.
During the course of an administrative meeting, she said, “We need to test the tyres of a few trucks which are entering the state through toll plazas. If the virus can be transmitted through clothes and shopping bags, then why not tyres?” Even though the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has informed that the infection spreads through the air, no studies have ascertained the spread of Coronavirus to moving truck tyres.
West Bengal CM observes the correlation between vehicular movement and Coronavirus spread
According to her, several vehicles have been coming to Jhargram district via Jharkhand from Mumbai, Chennai and other cities and States. The West Bengal CM, therefore, wants to conduct tests on tyres of trucks, which pass through toll plazas. Citing the example of her locality where 6 people of a family apparently tested positive for Coronavirus, she said, “From them, the disease had spread to 36 others. I had stopped the movement of vehicles on the road where the house was located because as vehicles move from one place to another, they can spread diseases. The tyres of vehicles can carry organisms, which can trigger diseases.”
Mamata Banerjee observed that the disease stopped spreading after the movement of vehicles were stopped. However, she claimed that the disease started spreading after restrictions on vehicular movement were lifted from the area on September 8.
Truck drivers to carry their own food, directs Mamata Banerjee
She has also asked for restricting the interaction between drivers at dhabas. She had also asked truck drivers, coming from other States, to carry their own food. Mamata Banerjee had directed officials to prepare a plan in advance to prevent the spread of Coronavirus infection. “No matter what others say, Covid-19 is surely spreading through airborne transmission. We still don’t know till how far the virus is spreading through the air. Everyone is giving a different opinion. All we can do is to take precaution till the time a vaccine is developed,” Mamata Banerjee claimed.