Bihar extends Covid-19 lockdown by 10 days till May 25

In a tweet, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said that the lockdown, which was to end on May 15, will now be in effect for 10 more days starting May 16. Kumar also said that it was observed that the lockdown had a 'positive' impact on the state's Covid-19 situation.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar announced on Thursday that the statewide lockdown imposed to control the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), is being extended for 10 days - from May 16-25.

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"Reviewed the ongoing lockdown in Bihar with ministerial colleagues and officials. We can see that the lockdown is having a positive impact. Therefore, we have decided to extend the lockdown in the state for 10 days, from May 16-25, 2021," a rough translation of Kumar's tweet, posted in Hindi, read.

On May 4, the Crisis Management Group of the Bihar government decided to impose a lockdown in the state, from May 5-15, amid a rise in daily Covid-19 cases. The government's decision, which was taken at a meeting presided over by chief secretary Tirupurari Sharan, came a day after it was pulled up by the Patna high court for "poor" handling of the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.

While Kumar, in his tweet, didn't announce relaxations and curbs which will be in effect during the extended phase, it is expected that the ones which were in effect in the first phase, will carry on.

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In the first phase of the lockdown, all government and private offices were directed to be closed. Hospitals, medical laboratories, ambulance services and essential services such as civil defence, electric supply, water supply, fire services, veterinary work, postal and telecommunication etc. were allowed to function.

Also, industrial and construction work, agricultural activities, e-commerce, computer services were allowed to function, while grocery shops, retail shops dealing with fruits and vegetables were allowed to operate from 7am to 11am.

According to a Bihar health department bulletin on May 12, the state's Covid-19 tally stood at 622,433 as 9,863 more people tested positive for the viral disease on the day. The related death toll, meanwhile, reached 3,503 as 74 more people succumbed to the virus. Recoveries and active cases are at 519,306 and 99,623 respectively.