Bihar lockdown till July 31 as coronavirus COVID-19 cases surge, emergency services exempt

PATNA: Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has decided to impose a complete lockdown in the state once again. According to sources, the government has decided to extend COVID-19 lockdown from July 16 in Bihar till July 31.

''Lockdown will be imposed in the state from 16 to 31 July to curb the spread of COVID-19. Guidelines are being prepared,'' Bihar Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi said. 

However, there will be no restrictions on emergency services. Train and flight services will also continue. The sources said that public transport services, shopping malls, and religious places like temples, across the state, will remain closed till July 31.

However, local fruits and vegetable shops will open in the morning and evening, the sources said. 

बिहार में 31 जुलाई तक Lockdown लागू, सिर्फ इमरजेंसी सेवा रहेगी चालू pic.twitter.com/4sWX6TEQsH

— Zee Bihar Jharkhand (@ZeeBiharNews) July 14, 2020

The government is believed to have taken this decision during a high-level meeting, which was called today to discuss further measures to curb the spread of coronavirus infection in the state.

In a bid to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the state, the Nitish government had on Monday announced fresh lockdown in two districts of Sitamarhi and Lakhisarai and decided to extend the shutdown in three districts– Nawada, Buxar and Supaul. 

With this, lockdown is now imposed in 20 districts across the state. While Sitamarhi and Lakhisarai districts will be under lockdown for a week, restrictions will remain in force in Nawada and Supaul till Wednesday, July 15. The shutdown will continue in Buxar till July 17. Once the formal notification is issued, the entire state will be under lockdown till July 31. 

The State Health Department said 9,129 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. 

As many as 12,364 people have recovered so far and the recovery rate 70. 97 per cent is higher than the national average of 63.02 per cent. There are 4,227 active cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 11,953 people have recovered from the infection so far, the department said.

Out of the 1,266 new cases, the maximum number of 177 infections were from Patna district, followed by Siwan (98), Bhagalpur (81), Nalanda (78), Nawada and Begusarai (76), Munger (61) and West Champaran (54).  

Two out of the seven new casualties were from Darbhanga, while there was a fatality each in Patna, Begusarai, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda and Siwan districts. 

The spurt came at a time when the state has nearly a third of its 38 districts under lockdown to contain the virus. Patna, Bhagalpur, Nalanda, Nawada, Begusarai and West Champaran districts have been under restrictions for more than 24 hours.

As many as 130 coronavirus positive cases were reported in the North Champaran district. Meanwhile, 95 cases in Raksol, 22 cases in Motihari, 7 cases Chakiya and 6 in Madhuban were reported