Covid cases on decline, says Nitish Kumar, extends Bihar lockdown by 7 days

Bihar lockdown: There were 33 districts in the state with a positivity rate of more than 10% on May 10, according to Union health ministry figures. On Monday, there was only one district in this list: Bihar capital Patna.

The Bihar government on Monday extended Covid-19 lockdown by a week till June 1 after a review led by chief minister Nitish Kumar. This is the second time the state has extended the lockdown first announced from May 5 till May 15.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said the Covid-19 lockdown in the state has helped curb the spread of the coronavirus disease and will be extended by a week till June 1. (HT File Photo/A P Dube)

“Reviewed the ongoing lockdown in Bihar with ministerial colleagues and officials. The lockdown is showing good results and positive cases are coming down. Therefore, we have decided to extend the lockdown in the state for seven days, from May 26 till June 1, 2021,” Nitish Kumar said in a tweet, posted in Hindi.

The lockdown has slowed down the spread of the infection.

On Sunday, Bihar reported 4,002 positive cases, down from the 14,794 positive cases reported in the state on May 4, the day before the lockdown.

“The positivity rate which stood at 15.7% on May 2 has come down to 3% on May 12 and the recovery rate has increased to 93.44%,” said a senior Bihar government official, requesting anonymity.

According to the Union health ministry data, there were 33 districts in Bihar which had a positivity rate of more than 10% a fortnight back. On Monday, there was only one district in this list: state capital Patna.

Bihar’s crisis management group decided on May 4 to impose a state-wide lockdown from the following day in a desperate attempt to curb the spread of Covid-19 cases and the continuing shortage of life saving drugs, medical oxygen and hospital beds across the state.

The state government had been reluctant to go for a hard lockdown when the second wave of Covid infections hit many parts of the country and had tried to control the spread of the infection in early April with restrictions on trade and business activities. Schools and other educational institutions and religious places were told to close. Private and government offices were told that not more than 33% of the staffers can report to work.