Bihar goes into lockdown till May 15 as Covid-19 cases surge

The Bihar government on Tuesday imposed a statewide lockdown till May 15 in the wake of rising Covid-19 cases.

कल सहयोगी मंत्रीगण एवं पदाधिकारियों के साथ चर्चा के बाद बिहार में फिलहाल 15 मई, 2021 तक लाॅकडाउन लागू करने का निर्णय लिया गया। इसके विस्तृत मार्गनिर्देशिका एवं अन्य गतिविधियों के संबंध में आज ही आपदा प्रबंधन समूह (Crisis management Group) को कार्रवाई करने हेतू निदेश दिया गया है।

— Nitish Kumar (@NitishKumar) May 4, 2021

Announcing the decision on Twitter, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said that the move to implement the lockdown was taken on Monday after a series of discussions with associate ministers and officials. The Bihar crisis management group has been directed to issue detailed lockdown-related guidelines and other protocols in this regard by today (Tuesday), he added.

The announcement came within hours of the Patna High Court ordering the government to declare a lockdown, warning that otherwise the court may step in.

The state reported 11,407 fresh Covid-19 cases and 82 deaths on Monday, taking the state’s overall case load to over 5.09 lakh and more than 2,800 fatalities. India today reported 3,57,229 new Covid-19 cases and 3,449 deaths in the past 24 hours.