West Bengal begins a two-day hard lockdown today, the third and fourth day of such a lockdown in August, called for by the state government in a bid to break the spread of coronavirus. The staggered lockdown had been questioned by many, but the government had said the plan was based on scientific studies. They did not cite it but a study by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in Bengaluru had stated that the staggered lockdowns would give results. They may well have, had the earlier two lockdowns in the state not been held, perhaps the numbers would have been higher but Bengal reported the highest spike in new cases on Tuesday which barely dipped on Wednesday