PATNA
The Bihar government on Thursday further extended the lockdown for 10 days, from May 16 till May 25, after reviewing the positive impact of the lockdown imposed from May 5 till May 15 amid the surge in coronavirus cases in the state.
An announcement to this effect was made by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Twitter.
“Reviewed the ongoing lockdown in Bihar with ministerial colleagues and officials. We can see that the lockdown is having a positive impact. Therefore, we have decided to extend the lockdown in the state for 10 days, from May 16-25, 2021,” a rough translation of Kumar’s tweet, posted in Hindi, read.
“The lockdown is showing desired results. After taking opinion of the district magistrates, it was decided to extend the lockdown,” said chief secretary Tripurari Sharan.
Meanwhile, according to a health department bulletin on May 13, the state recorded 7,752 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday and the number of active cases stood at 96277. The state reported 90 deaths in last 24 hours.
“During this period, the state government has modified its earlier order by advancing the timings for opening different shops. Now the shops selling milk, vegetables, non-vegetarian items and other essential commodities will open from 6 am till 10 am in urban areas and from 8 am till 12 noon in rural areas,” said additional chief secretary (home) Chaitanya Prasad. Earlier, these shops were opening from 7 am till 11 am.
{{/usCountry}}“During this period, the state government has modified its earlier order by advancing the timings for opening different shops. Now the shops selling milk, vegetables, non-vegetarian items and other essential commodities will open from 6 am till 10 am in urban areas and from 8 am till 12 noon in rural areas,” said additional chief secretary (home) Chaitanya Prasad. Earlier, these shops were opening from 7 am till 11 am.
{{/usCountry}}The government has also revised the number of guests for marriages from 50 to 20 only. “All other restrictions enforced earlier will remain in place,” said Prasad.
The 11-day lockdown has brought some relief for state government which was facing all-round flak following shortage of beds in hospitals, irregular oxygen supply, shortage of medicines, exorbitant prices being charged by ambulances, etc.
“The positivity rate which stood at 15.7% on May 2 has come down to 8.9% on May 12,” said additional chief secretary (health) Pratyaya Amrit.