Bihar to unlock from tomorrow. What's allowed, what’s not

Nitish Kumar, Bihar's chief minister, tweeted the announcement after a meeting of the crisis management group to review the coronavirus pandemic situation in the state.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday lifted the lockdown, put in place more than a month ago, saying the restrictions have served their purpose in bringing down the number of Covid-19 cases in the state. The Covid-induced lockdown will be lifted from Wednesday but night curfew will continue, the Bihar chief minister said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar lifted the lockdown in Bihar and said that the situation would be reviewed in a week. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Nitish Kumar tweeted the announcement after chairing a meeting of the crisis management group to review the coronavirus pandemic situation in the state. "The lockdown has served the purpose of putting a check on coronavirus cases. Hence it will now be done away with, though a few restrictions will remain," Nitish Kumar posted on Twitter.

The chief minister said that the situation would be reviewed after a week.

Here’s what will be allowed from Wednesday:

1. The night curfew will continue to be in place from 7pm to 5am

2. Private offices will be allowed to reopen and function with 50 per cent staff

3. Government offices, which have so far been functioning with 25 per cent staff strength, can now work with half of their employees

4. Both government and private offices will be permitted to run till 4pm

5. Visitors will not be allowed in government and private offices

6. Shops, which were allowed to remain open till 2pm, can now down their shutters by 5pm

7. Private vehicles will be permitted to ply

8. All education institution and religious places will remain closed till further order

9. Educational institutions, however, can conduct online classes

The lockdown in Bihar, which was imposed on May 5, was extended for a fourth time on May 31 till June 8. Bihar’s positivity rate has dropped to less than one per cent and recovery rate is 98.09% till date. On Monday, there were 762 new Covid-19 cases and 43 fatalities in Bihar. Recoveries mounted to 700,224 and active cases declined further to 8230. The state’s caseload stands at 713,879 and Covid-19 related death toll at 5424.