Coronavirus alert! This state extends lockdown till Sep 6 as COVID-19 cases spike

In a major development, the Bihar government on Monday Extended the lockdown till September 6 in view of the prevailing COVID-19 situation in the state, as per a notification. The decision was taken at a meeting of the Crisis Management Group chaired by Chief Secretary Deepak Kumar. Here are key details as per the notification issued by the Home Department:-

-Restrictions will remain in place in the district headquarters, sub-divisional headquarters, block headquarters and all municipal areas in the state.

-Strict measures will be enforced in the buffer and containment zones

- All religious places will remain closed and no congregation will be allowed.

- Besides, all social and political gatherings will be barred

- Parks and gymnasiums will remain closed and night curfew, restricting the movement of people between 10 pm and 5 am, will be in place

-Inter-state and inter-district bus services will also remain suspended though transportation of goods will be allowed without any hindrance.

The state has so far reported over 1 lakh cases of COVID-19, a ten-fold rise within a period of a month and a half. The government has attributed the sharp spike in cases to a higher number of tests.

India's COVID-19 tally rose to 26,47,663 on Monday with a single-day spike of 57,981 infections, while the death toll crossed the 50,000 mark with 941 fresh fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data. The recoveries surged to 19,19,842, pushing the recovery rate to 72.51 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

Meanwhile, the total number of tests for detection of COVID-19 has crossed the 3 crore mark in India, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) data. A total of 3,00,41,400 samples have been tested until August 16 with 7,31,697 samples being tested on Sunday, the ICMR said. "Focussing on timely and aggressive testing, India has exceeded 3 crore tests," the Health Ministry tweeted on Monday.