Bihar announces guidelines for Unlock 6: All you need to know

From August 26, all shops, establishments, educational institutes etc. can open normally, CM Nitish Kumar announced.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Wednesday announced a significant easing in Covid-19 related restrictions for the next stage of Unlock in the state. The relaxations, Kumar said on Twitter, were taken during a meeting to review the situation of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Bihar, which, he said, was improving, prompting the government to further ease the curbs.

Unlock 6 in Bihar: All educational institutes to open normally (Image used for representative purpose)

"However, due to the possibility of a third wave, all of us should take necessary precautions by following Covid-19 appropriate behaviour," Kumar tweeted.

The new relaxations will be effective from August 26 and mark the beginning of Unlock 6 in the state. Relaxations for Unlock 5 were announced on August 4, and were scheduled to be in effect from August 7-25.

Here’s what all is now allowed to open in Bihar:

(1.) All shops, establishments, shopping malls, parks, gardens and religious places can function normally.

(2.) Permission of district administration needed to organise political, social, entertainment, sports, cultural and religious functions/gatherings. Covid-19 related norms to be strict complied with.

(3.) All universities, colleges, technical institutes, coaching institutes, schools (from classes 1-12) to resume offline classes normally. Universities, colleges, schools etc. allowed to hold examinations.

(4.) Cinema halls, clubs, swimming pools, gyms, restaurants allowed to function at 50% customer strength.

Unlock 5 in Bihar:

Under the guidelines for Unlock 5, colleges, technical institutes and schools (for classes 9 and 10) opened from August 7, while offline lectures for classes 1-8 began on August 16. Also from August 7, cinema halls and malls opened at 50% strength. While halls could open till 7pm every day, malls could operate on alternate days.

Covid-19 in Bihar

According to the state health department, Bihar had 101 active cases of Covid-19 as on August 24. Complete lockdown was imposed here on May as a devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic swept the country.