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Alarmed over surge in Covid-19 cases, Bihar imposes curbs once again
The Bihar government has decided to close all religious places in the state till April 30 while cinema halls have been allowed to operate with 50% audience capacity. The government has decided not to close down parks but has made masks and Covid appropriate behaviour mandatory.
Amid a sudden surge in Covid-19 cases in Bihar, the Crisis Management Group (CMG) has decided to impose partial restrictions on trade and business activities and has extended the closure of schools till April 18.
“All schools, colleges and coaching institutes will remain closed for further one week till April 18, but the examinations will be held as per schedule and as per the Covid-19 guidelines,” said principal secretary, disaster management department and health department, Pratyaya Amrit. Earlier the government had closed all schools, colleges and coaching institutes from April 5 till April 11, leading to protest in some districts by students.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar made it clear that “it was not a lockdown, but partial restrictions have been imposed following the sudden increase in Covid-19 cases. We will again review the situation in 4-5 days and the government hasn’t thought in terms of night curfew as of now.”
Bihar reported 2174 Covid-19 cases on Friday taking the number of active cases to 9557. On April 8, the state had reported 1911 positive cases.
Amrit also announced that the government has decided to impose certain restrictions on shops and business establishments. “Till April 30, all shops and business establishments will remain open till 7 pm and they will have to follow all Covid-19 protocols like mask and sanitizers will be mandatory. However, this restriction will not apply to restaurants, dhabas and shops serving food and they will be open beyond 7 pm,” he said.
The government, has, however, put a cap on the number of people in the restaurants and this will be not more than 25% of their seating capacity. The home delivery and take away food joints will function normally.
The government has decided to close all religious places in the state till April 30 while cinema halls have been allowed to operate with 50% audience capacity. The government has decided not to close down parks but has made masks and Covid appropriate behaviour mandatory.
The government also announced restrictions in government and private offices and announced that only 33% employees can attend the office on a given day. However, the industrial units have been put out of the purview of these restrictions and will function normally.
With the marriage season scheduled to start soon, the government has allowed presence of 200 people in a marriage or a shradh (last rites) while for cremation and other last rites only 50 people would be allowed.
The government, however, has put restrictions on holding of functions at public places.
CM Kumar assured that things were well under control and he has suggested to the Governor to convene an all-party meeting to discuss the Covid-19 scenario. “The closure of school, colleges and coaching institutes is only for seven days,” said the CM, while trying to provide confidence to coaching institutes and private school owners.
