Bihar,Tamil Nadu impose night curfew as Covid cases surge
PATNA/CHENNAI: Bihar and Tamil Nadu have decided to impose night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am and 10pm to 4 am, respectively as COVID-19 cases continue to spike in both states. Bihar has extended closure of schools/colleges/coaching centres until May 15. The Tamil Nadu government imposed statewide night curfew from 10 pm to 4 am beginning April 20. There will be bans inter and intra-state travel during night curfew; full lockdown to be imposed on Sundays across the state, ANI reported.
The Bihar government on Sunday decided to impose a night curfew from 9 pm to 5 am as part of new measures to check the spread of the killer virus, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced.A decision has also been taken to extend the closure of schools/colleges/coaching centres till May 15 from April 30 decided earlier, he told reporters. Religious places of all faiths will remain shut till May 15 in view of the sudden spike in coronavirus cases in Bihar, the chief minister said. Earlier, they were closed till April 30.
The government offices with one-third strength will function only till 5 pm while shops/mandis/business establishments will be closed at 6 pm, an hour earlier than what was decided last week, he said. Attendance in the funeral was reduced to 25 from 50 earlier and likewise gathering in marriage/shraddha was curtailed to 100 from 200 earlier.
Amid rapid increase in the corona positive cases, the Tamil Nadu Government on Sunday announced stricter restrictions that included night curfew from April 20 and total lockdown on all Sundays, till further orders. The government’s fresh restrictions to prevent spread of the virus, came hours after Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaiswami held a meeting with Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and senior officials of the government.
An official release here said night curfew will be imposed all over the State from 2200 hrs to 0400 hrs and total lockdown will be in force on all Sundays. All public, private, taxis, autos, cab services, inter-state and inter-district bus services will also be not allowed during the curfew period.
However, cabs, autos and taxis will be allowed for emergency medical services, airports and railway stations during the curfew period, apart from essential services like, milk and newspaper distributions, hospital, medical laboratories, pharmacies, ambulances, hearse vans, freight vehicles, print and TV media and petrol bunks. On Sundays, no vegetable or meat shops will function, cinema theatres will have no movie screenings. Only 100 people would be allowed to visit weddings from the time this new regime comes into force.
(With Media Reports).
