Bihar lockdown to extend? Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to decide soon

The Bihar Government is set to take a decision on the state-wide COVID-19 lockdown, which came to an end on Tuesday. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is expected to chair a meeting of the disaster management group to discuss if restrictions must continue or relaxation can be given.

On May 31, CM Nitish Kumar had announced that the lockdown imposed in the state was extended till June 8. Earlier last month, the state government had revealed that the government had decided to implement lockdown-like restrictions till June 1. The state-wide lockdown had begun on May 5.

Here are some of the existing and expected curbs

• All shops and business establishments were allowed to open alternately from 6 am till 2 pm. 
• Certain shops including grocery and vegetable shops were allowed to open from 6 am till 10 am.
• Buses and other public transport services will be allowed to operate with 50 percent capacity.
• Both private and government offices are likely to reopen, however, staff attendance will be limited.

COVID situation in Bihar 

Less than 800 fresh COVID-19 cases were reported in Bihar on Monday, in yet another indication that the second wave was on the wane in the state, though 43 fatalities pushed the death toll to 5424. According to the health department, 762 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, the lowest figure for the state for the past couple of months.

The total number of confirmed cases has risen to 7,13,879 and 7,00,224 people have, so far, recovered. The recovery rate has reached 98.09 percent and the active caseload has dropped further to 8230. More than five lakh people in the state have been infected since April and over 4,000 have lost their lives.