Bihar Imposes Complete Lockdown from July 16 as Covid Cases Spike
By Team BiharConnect
Bihar will go for a complete lockdown for 16 days beginning from July 16 as the number of Covid-19 cases spiked hitting the worst single-day tally of 1432 cases on Tuesday.
State’s Home Department issued detailed order for the lockdown that will run from July 16 to July 31. Making a case for the lockdown it said, “there is an alarming surge in Covid-19 positive cases in state of Bihar in the last three weeks wherein positivity rate has also been considerably high.”
All state and central government offices in Bihar, except those dealing with essential services, will remain closed during the lockdown period. Schools, colleges and other educational institutions will continue to remain shut.
All transport services, with some exceptions, will be suspended. Private vehicles will be allowed for permitted activities only. Taxies, auto-rickshaws will be permitted across Bihar.
Commercial and private establishments shall be closed down. Only essential services will be allowed. The commercial establishments that will be allowed to function include shops, including ration shops (under PDS), dealing with food, groceries, fruits and vegetable, dairy and milk booth, meat and fish, animal fodder, agriculture inputs. However, authorities are encouraged to facilitate home delivery.
Banks, insurance offices and ATM which include all bank related subsidiaries offices like Cash management, IT services etc, will also be allowed to function.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said Covid-19 cases had spiked in the recent days in the state because people were not following the required precautions at public places.
Modi said to prevent Corona infection, every poor family were given four masks and one soap free of cost. The government spent Rs.160 crore on free distribution of masks and soaps among poors. The government has also launched a drive to punish those people who go to public places without wearing masks.
“Despite this, there were laxities in taking precautions in public places, which led to a rapid transmission and the entire lockdown had to be implemented in the entire state by July 31.
If we act with our collective resolve and follow the rules strictly, then the link of transmission will definitely be broken,” Modi twitted.
Coronavirus cases have spiked in Bihar in the recent days. On Tuesday 1432 new Covid-19 positive cases were reported. This is the highest single-day increase in the Covid cases in Bihar. The total Covid-19 positive cases in Bihar have risen to 18,853.
