Mamata skips Centre’s COVID-19 meeting with CMs

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee skipped Friday’s meeting of CMs with Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the COVID-19 situation, sources said.

Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay represented the state at the review meeting, which was held via video conference, they said.

Banerjee had earlier skipped a few similar meetings as she was busy campaigning for the ongoing assembly elections.

Meanwhile, the West Bengal government has constituted a six-member apex task force under Bandyopadhyay to supervise activities of coordinators and observers overseeing the COVID-19 situation in the state, an official said.

Till Thursday, the state’s coronavirus tally stood at 7,00,904 and the death toll at 10,766.