Schools, Offices And Markets To Reopen As Bihar Relaxes Covid-19 Curbs

With new cases of Covid-19 on the decline, the Bihar government on Sunday decided to roll-back many pandemic restrictions, including night curfew.

All schools, colleges, coaching institutes, religious places, shops and malls will remain open during their normal business hours. While colleges and coaching institutes have been allowed to operate with full attendance, schools have been asked to resume teaching for students of up to classes eight with half of the capacity.

However, classes from nine and above will function normally.

This was among various decisions that were taken by the crisis management group (CMG) at its meeting chaired by chief minister Nitish Kumar on Sunday in the wake of a dip in Covid-19 cases. Bihar reported as many as 442 new cases of Covid-19 infection in the past 24 hours on Saturday and currently there are 2,916 active cases in the state.

The chief minister through his twitter posts stated that all social, political, entertainment, cultural and religious functions could be organized after prior permission of the respective district administrations. “However, there will be a cap of 200 people as participants for a marriage or funeral,” said the post, adding that the people of the state must follow the norms of social distancing and wear masks all the time during their outdoor activities.

According to the orders issued by the home department in the light of the CMG meeting, all government and private offices will operate normally. However, only fully vaccinated people would be allowed entry. All operations of judicial institutions will be done as per the directions of the Patna high court.

The Bihar government had on January 6 clamped many restrictions, including night curfew, after the daily cases of Covid-19 shot past 35,000 per day. People were advised to stay indoors from 10 pm to 5 am.

Additional chief secretary, home, Chaitanya Prasad said that cinema halls, gymnasiums, indoor stadiums, clubs and swimming pools have been allowed to reopen with 50% capacity. “The new guidelines will remain in force till February 13, after which the situation will be reviewed,” he added.

The order also stipulated that private institutions, shops and malls could be manned by fully vaccinated people. The owners and managers of such offices will have to ensure that all the people working there are vaccinated and sanitizer dispensers be installed at the entry points.