Kolkata, Aug 3 (IANS): In the wake of the statewide Covid-19 pandemic, the West Bengal state secretariat Nabanna remained closed on Monday for an intense sanitisation drive.

The 14-storey seat of power in Bengal will remain closed on Tuesday also as the number of Covid-19 cases goes up in the state with the death toll mounting to 1,678 till Sunday.

According to sources in the state secretariat, all state government employees have been asked to work from home on these two days.

The Mamata Banerjee-led state government has declared statewide lockdown on August 5, 8, 16, 17, 23, 24 and 31 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

According to the state health department bulletin on Sunday, as many as 49 people succumbed to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours while the number of new cases stood at 2,739 in the same period. On the positive side, the discharge rate in the state has improved to 69.83 per cent.

According to the bulletin, a total of 75,516 people have tested positive for Covid-19 across the state so far.