Lockdown restrictions extended in Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand

Lockdown was extended in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh on Monday till May end while Uttarakhand too decided to continue with the COVID-induced curfew, as several states said that the restrictions have led to an improvement in the pandemic situation. States and Union Territories started imposing restrictions from mid-April for varying periods as the deadly second wave of coronavirus hit the country and most of them have now extended the curbs till the end of this month to rein in the spread of infection and the mounting deaths which have crossed the three lakh mark.

The Union Health Ministry on Monday said a steady decline in daily new COVID-19 cases has been observed since the last 17 days in India.

Fresh COVID-19 infections in the country dipped to 2,22,315, the lowest in around 38 days, pushing the total tally of coronavirus cases to 2,67,52,447, while the death toll climbed to 3,03,720 with 4,454 fresh fatalities, according to Ministry data updated At 8 AM on Monday.

India had registered 2,17,353 new infections on April 16.

The active cases reduced to 27,20,716 comprising 10.17 percent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate has improved to 88.69 percent.

The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 2,37,28,011, while the case fatality rate has increased to 1.14 percent, the data stated.

The Nitish Kumar government extended till June 1 the lockdown that has been in force for nearly a month in Bihar.

"The lockdown has had a good impact and there has been a decline in the corona contagion. Hence, a decision has been taken to continue with the lockdown till June 01", Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tweeted after chairing a high-level meeting convened to review the pandemic situation in the state.

More than four lakh people have been infected and over 2,000 have lost their lives since April when the devastating second wave hit the state

The Uttarakhand government extended the COVID-19 related curfew period, which was to end on Tuesday morning, till June 1.

Himachal Pradesh government has extended the corona curfew in the state till May 31, an official spokesperson said.

The decision to extend the curfew till six am on May 31 was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by the chief minister Jai Ram Thakur here on Monday, he added.

With the COVID-19 positivity rate coming down to less than five percent in five districts of Madhya Pradesh, the state government has allowed "restricted relaxations" in the corona curfew in those districts from Monday, a senior official said.

On the basis of the experience in these districts, Jhabua, Alirajpur, Khandwa, Burhanpur and Bhind, a strategy for implementing a graded unlocking process will be considered from June 1 onwards, Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Dr Rajesh Rajora told .

The restricted relaxations have been allowed as the coronavirus positivity rate in these districts is less than five percent. The relaxations are applicable from May 24-31," he said.

All government offices in these five districts will be allowed to operate with 100 percent strength of officers and 25 percent strength of other employees. Shops of essential commodities will be opened for the entire day in these districts.

The Chandigarh administration too decided to allow the opening of all shops, besides announcing to continue with night and weekend curfew in the city.

"All shops will be allowed to remain open from 9 AM to 3 PM," said an official statement here. The decision was taken in the wake of declining COVID-19 cases and the demand by traders and shopkeepers who were suffering due to the closure of their shops.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren said that the daily infection rate has declined by 50 percent but till a single death takes place in the state, the war against the second wave will not be over.

The government is making all efforts to save both "livelihood and life" and will soon decide on the lockdown which is scheduled to come to an end on May 27, he said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on Sunday announced that the ongoing lockdown in the national capital will continue for another week and said the process of "unlock" will start from May 31 in a phased manner if the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline.

The Rajasthan government, which extended the coronavirus lockdown by 15 days till June 8, had also said the state may allow some relaxations in commercial activities from June 1 in districts where the COVID-19 situation will show significant improvement.

Extending the lockdown till May 31, the Haryana government said the positivity and fatality rates have to be brought down further, though it did allow some relaxations in the curbs.

Here is a look at coronavirus-induced restrictions/lockdown imposed by states and union territories:

*Delhi is under lockdown from April 19 till May 31.

*Haryana, which was under lockdown from May 3, has extended it till May 31.

* Chandigarh administration has imposed night and weekend curfew restrictions till May 31.

*Punjab has extended all existing COVID restrictions in the state till May 31, including night curfew.

*Uttar Pradesh had extended the partial coronavirus curfew till 7 AM on May 31.

*Bihar on May 4 imposed a lockdown which has now been extended till June 1.

*Jharkhand had extended lockdown-like restrictions with stricter provisions till May 27.

* Odisha is under lockdown till June 1.

* West Bengal government announced a complete lockdown from May 16 till May 30.

*Rajasthan has extended lockdown till June 8.

*Madhya Pradesh has extended the 'corona curfew' in all 52 districts of the state for different durations up to May 31.

*Gujarat has extended night curfew in 36 cities of the state till May 28. However, daytime restrictions were relaxed and shops, shopping malls, business establishments and other business activities were allowed between 9 AM to 3 PM.

*Chhattisgarh government has asked authorities in all the 28 districts to extend the COVID-19 lockdown till May 31.

*Kerala has extended the total lockdown, which was to end on May 23, till May 30.

*Tamil Nadu has extended the lockdown, which was to end on May 24, by another week.

*Puducherry has imposed lockdown till May 31.

*Karnataka has announced an extension of lockdown for two weeks from May 24 to June 7.

*Telangana has extended the lockdown till May 30.

* Andhra Pradesh has extended the curfew till May 31.

*Goa government has imposed curfew till May 31.

*Maharashtra has extended the lockdown-like restrictions till June 1.

*Assam on May 12 ordered shutting down of all offices, religious places and weekly markets for 15 days in urban and semi-urban areas of the state. It has stopped all inter-district transport services and movement of people across the state for 15 days with effect from May 21.

*Nagaland has extended the lockdown till May 31.

*Mizoram has extended the lockdown, which was imposed in Aizawl and other district headquarters, till May 31.

* Arunachal Pradesh has imposed complete lockdown in Anjaw, Dibang Valley, Lower Subansiri, Lohit and Tawang districts and the Capital Complex Region till May 31.

*Manipur government has imposed curfew in seven districts of Imphal West, Imphal East, Bishnupur, Ukhrul, Thoubal, Kakching and Churachandpur till May 28.

* Meghalaya extended lockdown in the worst-affected East Khasi Hills district till May 31.

*Tripura has imposed night curfew from May 19 till May 26.

* Sikkim government decided to clamp a complete lockdown across the tiny Himalayan state from May 17 to May 24.

*Jammu and Kashmir administration has extended the corona curfew till May 31 morning.

*Uttarakhand has imposed a strict COVID curfew till June 1.

*Himachal Pradesh has extended the coronavirus-induced curfew in the state till May 31.