PATNA: Lockdown was imposed in Bihar till May 15 amid the surge in COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced on Tuesday.
The decision was taken on Monday after discussions with ministers and government officials, he added.
With 11,407 more COVID cases Bihar breached the five lakh-mark of infections Monday, while 82 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 2821 in the state, health department bulletin said.
The caseload of the state went up to 5,09,047, with capital Patna being the worst-hit.
Out of 82 new deaths, Patna accounted for 24 casualties while Muzaffarpur reported 13 fatalities, Madhepura (6) and West Champaran (5).
Among the 11,407 new cases, Patna’s share was 2028, the health bulletin said.
Other major COVID-hit districts are Gaya with 662 cases, Muzaffarpur (653) and Begusarai (510).
Meanwhile, sources in the East Central Railway (ECR) zone said that a total of 4654 staff have tested positive so far while 123 of them have succumbed to the virus.
There are 80,000 employees working in the Hazipur- based ECR which comprises of five Railway divisions-Danapur, Sonepur, Samastipur, Dhanbad and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya.
In the second wave, a total of 556 staff engaged in operation including loco pilots, their assistant and guards who play an important role in running of trains have contracted infection, the sources said.
The sources said that out of the 2161 active cases in the ECR, there are 230 loco pilots, 229 assistant loco pilots, 194 guards and 230 station masters.
A total of 13,603 COVID patients recovered in last 24 hours, where overall 3,98,558 people have been cured so far.
The state has a recovery rate of 78.29 per cent.
Total 72,658 samples were tested since Sunday while over 2.66 crore clinical examinations for the virus have been conducted since the start.
There are 1,07,667 active caseload in Bihar at present.
On the vaccination front, 72,658 beneficiaries were administered jabs Monday while a total of 74,18,981 people have been inoculated in the 45-plus age group till the date.
The state is yet to start vaccination for 18 plus population due to non-availability of the additional stock.
