The Bihar government on Thursday extended the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown across the state for 10 days till May 25 to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
“Reviewed the lockdown in Bihar with colleagues in the council of ministers and officials. The positive outcome of the lockdown is evident. Hence, a decision has been taken to extend the lockdown by another 10 days, from May 16 to 25,” Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said in a tweet in Hindi.
आज सहयोगी मंत्रीगण एवं पदाधिकारियों के साथ बिहार में लागू लॉकडाउन की स्थिति की समीक्षा की गयी। लॉकडाउन का सकारात्मक प्रभाव दिख रहा है। अतः बिहार में अगले 10 दिनों अर्थात 16 से 25 मई, 2021 तक लॉकडाउन को विस्तारित करने का निर्णय लिया गया है।
— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) May 13, 2021
This comes a day after the state recorded 9,863 fresh Covid-19 cases and 74 related deaths.
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. 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.
The Bihar government has already been on the receiving end after several bodies, decomposed, bloated and suspected to be of people who succumbed to Covid-19, were on Monday found floating in the river Ganga in Buxar.