No lockdown for now; Bihar clamps night curfew, Sec 144 to fight virus

PATNA Bihar will not go in for lockdown but will impose night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am and close all government and private educational institutions and postpone exams till May 15 to break the chain of Covid-19 pandemic, which has witnessed unprecedented spurt in the state in the last one month, with addition of 8,690 cases in the last 24 hours that took the tally of active cases to 50,000

PATNA

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Bihar will not go in for lockdown but will impose night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am and close all government and private educational institutions and postpone exams till May 15 to break the chain of Covid-19 pandemic, which has witnessed unprecedented spurt in the state in the last one month, with addition of 8,690 cases in the last 24 hours that took the tally of active cases to 50,000.

Announcing this after marathon meetings with the district magistrates and later with the crisis management group during the day, chief minister Nitish Kumar said Sunday that section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) will be imposed as per requirement in town areas and block level during the day to prohibit assemblies of four or more individuals and avoid any crowding.

“The district magistrates will ensure that vegetable mandis and roadside vending are staggered and not crowded. All public places like malls, cinema halls, gyms and parks as well as religious places will remain closed and restaurants and dhabas will only provide home delivery or takeaway facility. There will be a cap of 100 people for marriage and ‘shradh’ functions. The government and private offices, already running with one-third attendance, will close by 5 pm while shops will close by 6 pm. Earlier, it was 7 pm. However, it will not apply to essential services,” he said.

The announcement was on expected lines after Saturday’s all-party meeting, which was not unanimous on complete statewide lockdown in the state that has a large number of people working in other states.

The CM, however, appealed to all the people living outside to return as early as possible, as delay will cause problems to them, hinting that the government might review the situation in the days to come to decide on sterner measures.

“The government will make all arrangements. Those in home isolation will be monitored on a daily basis, while those returning will be provided with quarantine facilities like last year at the subdivisional level. A lot of deliberations have been done on every aspect,” the CM said, adding that it was decided to wait for some time before deciding on the possibility of lockdown.

Kumar said the government has also taken a decision to develop containment zones like last year to contain the spread of pandemic and increase number of beds in dedicated Covid hospitals and care centres, besides boosting awareness campaign for Covid-appropriate behaviour.

The CM said that during the meeting, all aspects were discussed, including reports of oxygen shortage, medicine requirement, especially Remdesivir, and delay in RTPCR reports. “The emphasis will be on fast-tracking testing and vaccination. Early start of treatment is important and for that timely availability of RTPCR reports will be ensured,” he said.

The CM said that like the last year, the panchayati raj department will start supply of masks in the rural and urban areas in larger numbers. “Like last year, the government has also decided to give one-month additional salary to doctors and health workers in view of the enormous work they are doing to meet the huge pandemic challenge,” he said.

Health minister Mangal Pandey said that the government was ensuring smooth supply of oxygen and Remdesivir injection as also other medicines. “We are in touch with the suppliers and smooth supply will be ensured,” he said.

After getting detailed feedback from all the political parties on the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic situation in Bihar at a meeting called by Governor Phagu Chouhan on Saturday, the CM had said that the government would announce further measures to contain the spread of virus on Sunday after seeking reports from all the district magistrates.

Covid curbs

Night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am, no assembly of 4 or more persons

All educational institutions shut and exams put off till May 15

Malls, cinema halls, gyms, parks, religious places to stay shut

Containment zones like last year to check spread of pandemic