Amid Covid-19 surge, Bihar orders closure of schools till April 18

Schools in Bihar were to reopen on April 5 but it was postponed to April 11 but it has now been deferred to April 18.

Bihar on Friday joined several states which have closed down schools because of the surge in the cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as chief minister Nitish Kumar deferred opening them until April 18. Before this, schools in Bihar were scheduled to reopen on April 5 but was postponed to April 11 as the state saw rising infections. “The order of closure of schools (which was deferred from) April 5 to April 11 has been extended for one more week,” Nitish Kumar was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Primary school students in Patna walk towards school in this file picture from March 1, 2021, when primary schools had reopened for a short period of time. (Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times)

Bihar CM Kumar also said that adequate arrangements will be made for people returning to the state. He said that people arriving from Maharashtra will be tested for Covid-19 at railway stations. “Those arriving via trains from Maharashtra will be tested for Covid-19 at railway stations,” he said. The state government on Tuesday had instructed officials to ready quarantine centres at block level as people return from states witnessing a spurt in Covid-19 cases.

Bihar government’s principal secretary Pratyaya Amrit said all shops will be permitted to remain open till 7pm in the state. Amrit also said restaurants, dhabas and hotels will be allowed to operate with 25% capacity while public transport and movie theatres can operate at 50% occupancy. He said essential services will be exempted from these regulations.

Bihar recorded 2,174 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, according to data released by the state's health department. The state has recorded more than 274,000 cases and the death toll has reached 1,598 with three fresh fatalities.

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal also ordered the closure of schools in Delhi until further notice. Haryana also ordered the closure of schools till April 30 for students till Class 8. Odisha on Wednesday had ordered the suspension of physical teaching of Class 9 and 11 students at all schools till April 30. The Jharkhand government also closed schools and said that students will be taught online but allowed students of Class 10 and 12 to attend classes only after receiving prior permission from their parents.