Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday announced the extension of the lockdown in the state till May 25.

Kumar made the announcement after chairing a high-level meeting, convened to take a decision on the lockdown, which was in place from May 5 to 15.

"Reviewed the lockdown in Bihar with colleagues in the council of ministers and officials. The positive outcome of the lockdown is evident. Hence, a decision has been taken to extend the lockdown by another 10 days, from May 16 to 25," the chief minister tweeted in Hindi.

The state has been rattled by explosive growth in its COVID-19 incidence since the beginning of April. During the period, its total caseload has risen by nearly three times and exceeded six lakh.

The death toll, which on Wednesday crossed 3,500, has also seen a more than three-fold jump during the period. Those succumbing to COVID-19 include many sitting and former legislators, top bureaucrats and doctors.

Nonetheless, the situation has looked up in the past few days, causing the recovery rate -- which had dipped to as low as 77 per cent at the beginning of this month -- to reach 83.43 per cent on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, the state registered 9,863 fresh cases, after having witnessed daily jumps in its tally by a five-digit figure for more than a fortnight.