Bihar unveils stricter COVID-19 curbs: Shops to close by 4 pm; night curfew from 6 pm-6 am

The Bihar government imposed stricter curbs to contain the spread of COVID-19 with the state recording 13,374 novel coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. For instance, all shops will close by 4 pm instead of 6 pm from Thursday onwards. Moreover, the district administration will stagger market timings and allow neighbourhood shops to open on alternate days to avoid crowding. The timings of the night curfew have been extended from 6 pm to 6 am. Anyone violating the new curbs will be liable for legal action. At present, there are 94,276 active novel coronavirus cases in Bihar while 3,31,418 patients have been discharged and 2307 deaths have been reported. 

Here are the fresh COVID-19 curbs in Bihar:

• All shops to close by 4 pm
• The timings of markets will be staggered and neighbourhood shops will remain open only on alternate days
• Night curfew will be in force from 6 pm to 6 am
• Wedding ceremony and funeral will be restricted to a maximum of 50 and 20 persons each
• For a wedding ceremony, the night curfew will be applicable from 10 pm and DJ cannot be used
• Barring for essential services, all government and private offices will function with a strength of 25% employees
• All employees will be encouraged to work from home
• All government and private offices shall close by 4 pm
• These guidelines shall not be applicable to public transport (restricted to 50% seating capacity), industrial establishments, construction work, E-commerce, all establishments and services pertaining to health, street vendors selling fruits and vegetables, agriculture and related work
• Restaurants and all food shops can remain open till 9 pm for takeaway
• In containment zones, all shops except those selling milk, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, grocery and medicines will be shut
• The state governments will bear the cost of the final rites of deceased persons in case they have passed away owing to COVID-19 or even if they show symptoms of COVID-19
• Assuming three lakh active novel coronavirus patients, preparations for an adequate number of beds, ventilators, oxygen concentrators should be done
• Retired physicians, dentists, etc. should also be delegated work
• The testing should be ramped up and the proportion of RT-PCR tests should be increased
• The police personnel returning from duty in poll-bound states should be tested for COVID-19 so that novel coronavirus spread doesn't increase