Bihar goes for lockdown again

Bihar goes for lockdown again

Piyush.Tripathi@timesgroup.com

Patna:  15.07.2020

Bihar is going in for a complete 16-day lockdown starting July 16, the state government announced on Tuesday. Lockdown 6.0, which will end on July 31, will cover all urban areas and block headquarters in rural areas with relaxations for agricultural activities.

The latest lockdown comes in the wake of a massive surge in Covid-19 cases and district-wise lockdowns over the past few days, which failed to stem the tide of coronavirus cases that have now crossed the 18,000 mark in the state. The state home department’s order cited an alarming surge in the number of Covid-positive cases in Bihar in the past three weeks as the reason behind enforcing the lockdown. As many as 9,378 cases were reported in Bihar in 34 days during the Unlock period (June 1- July 14), while 9,475 cases were reported in 70 days since the first three cases were reported on May 22.

Deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi told TOI that rampant violation of preventive norms was the reason behind enforcing the fresh lockdown. “It has been noticed that after the Unlock period began since June 1, very few people were wearing masks and social distancing norms were hardly being followed. Large gatherings were seen in markets and people went out without any essential work. This led to a spike in Covid cases,” he said.

Full report on www.toi.