Bihar lifts Covid-19 lockdown for a week, night curfew to remain in place

He clarified that night curfew will be in place from 7 pm to 5 am

Lockdown in Bihar, clamped over a month ago in view of the spurt in Covid 19 cases, will be lifted from Wednesday, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said.

He made the announcement on his social media handles on Tuesday after a meeting of the crisis management group which reviewed the pandemic situation in the state.

"The lockdown has served the purpose of putting a check on coronavirus cases. Hence it would now be done away with, though a few restrictions will remain," the chief minister said.

He, however, clarified that night curfew will be in place from 7 pm to 5 am.

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Kumar said private offices will be allowed to reopen and function with 50 per cent staff. Government offices, which have so far been functioning with 25 per cent staff strength, can do so with half of employees reporting on a day.

Both government and private offices will be permitted to run till 4 pm. Shops, which had been allowed to remain open till 2 pm shall henceforth be required to down their shutters by 5 pm.

Private vehicles would be permitted to ply and educational institutions could conduct online classes, Kumar added.

The chief minister further said that the aforementioned restrictions will remain in place for another week after which the situation would be reviewed and further instructions might be issued.

He also cautioned people against gathering in crowds.

Complete lockdown was imposed on May 5 after the state was rattled by an explosive rise in Covid 19 incidence. More than half a million people have been infected since April while over 4,000 have died.

In the past few weeks, however, there has been a marked decline in the number of people contracting the disease and fatalities.