Coronavirus in Bihar: 69 new COVID-19 cases; state tally at 830
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Bihar surged to 830 after 69 more people tested positive for the infection a Health Department official said on Tuesday. In the last 24-hours, 82 people who were infected with the novel coronavirus were discharged after full recovery. At least 441 people have recovered after getting infected with the deadly disease, Six people have died of COVID-19 so far -- one each from Patna, Rohtas, Munger, Vaishali, East Champaran and Sitamarhi districts. Currently, 383 affected persons are receiving treatment in the state.
Of those who tested positive are six personnel of the Bihar Military Police's 14th Battalion at Khajpura locality in the Bihar capital, a hotspot which accounts for nearly half of the 78 cases reported in Patna district till date, according to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar.
The policemen are all in the age group of 30 to 50 years, he said. The fresh cases raise the total number of infected BMP-14 jawans to 20. Belchhi in rural Patna also reported one fresh case.
Khagaria reported the highest number of 17 cases during the day and the district's total has reached 28, the principal secretary said.
West Champaran district, situated close to the foothills of the Himalayas, along the Indo-Nepal border, reported 13 fresh cases and the district's tally has now jumped to 24.
Thirteen people tested positive in Rohtas district, where the total number has now reached 85, making it the second worst affected after Munger which accounts for 115 cases.
Madhubani reported four fresh cases while three persons tested positive in Muzaffarpur, raising the respective tallies of the districts to 30 and 12.
Gopalganj, Aurangabad and Bhagalpur reported two cases each.
Banka, Saran, Siwan, Katihar, Arwal and Purnea reported one case each.
There has been a steep rise in the number of cases reported during the last 10 days which have seen the state's tally grow by more than 300.
Much of this is attributed to the heavy influx of migrants who have been returning by special trains and other modes of transport.
The health department has been very attentive to the arrival of migrants from other states and analyzing data on a continuous basis, the principal secretary said.
Kumar said the number of migrants testing positive from May 4 till 10 am of Tuesday was 190.
Most migrants testing positive have come from Delhi (55), Gujarat (46), Maharashtra (44), West Bengal (16) and Uttar Pradesh (11).
The districts accounting for a high number of migrants testing positive are Begusarai (26), Nalanda (15), Munger and Bhagalpur (13 each), Saharsa and Patna (11 each) and Khagaria (10).
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has urged the Centre to run additional trains besides coordinating with states for plying buses so that all desirous of a journey back home can return in the next seven to eight days.
Of the 38 districts in the state, all but one have reported COVID 19 cases. Out of these Buxar and Lakhisarai are now left with zero active cases. The recovery rate of Buxar has been noteworthy as the district had reported 56 cases.
The number of samples tested so far is 37,430.
(With Inputs from PTI)
