<span style="color: #222222;">In Bihar night curfew began at 6 pm today in view of an increasing number of COVID cases in the state. The curfew will be till 6am tomorrow. Shops and business establishments were closed by 4 pm. Essential services have been exempted from this order. These decisions were taken by the crisis management group headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar. Fifty persons will be allowed for a marriage ceremony while only 20 persons will be permitted for a funeral procession. The Government and private offices were closed after 4 in the afternoon. Twenty five per cent attendance was allowed in offices.</span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;"> </span><br />'' <span style="color: #222222;">The State government will bear all expenses of funerals of those who died due to COVID and related diseases. Meanwhile, fresh cases of COVID-19 continue to rise rapidly. Active cases in the State have gone upto 98,747 and they are undergoing treatment at different hospitals. Recovery rate is now at 77.09 per cent. Over 3.40 lakh patients have so far recovered from infection. A total of 87,348 people took the vaccine yesterday. Over 69,55,027 people have so far been vaccinated in the State.</span><br />''  <br />