Bihar COVID-19 total crosses 400-mark; two infants among 37 test positive
Patna, Apr 29 () A total of 37 people, including two infants, tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 403, a top Health department official said.
According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar Buxar reported the maximum number of 14 cases during the day, raising the districts total to 40, making it the third worstaffected after Patna and Munger.
Twelve people tested positive in Naya Bhojpur village alone, which accounts for most of the cases in Buxar. The fresh cases include two girls aged six months and one year, besides a boy and a girl - both aged eight years. The oldest patient happens to be a 65-year-old man. Seven patients from the village are females.
Two young men, aged 16 and 18 years, tested positive in the block headquarters of Dumraon.
The day also saw West Champaran becoming the 29th of the states 38 districts to be affected by the outbreak. All the patients are from Yogapatti block and happen to be males inthe age group of 27-40 years.
Their infection trail was being ascertained, the principal secretary said.
Four people tested positive in Darbhanga town and according to District Magistrate Thyagarajan they happen to be wife, brother, sister-in-law and mother-in-law of a 35-year-old migrant from Delhi who had returned last week and tested positive a few days ago.
The state capital reported three more cases, one each from Raja Bazar locality in the city and Paliganj and Naubatpur in rural Patna. The district retains the spot for the second worst affected with 42 cases after Munger where 92 have tested positive so far.
Three more people tested positive in Rohtas, two from the district headquarters of Rohtas, besides an eight-year-old boy from Badahari. The district now has 34 cases, all of which are active.
Patna and Buxar have 37 cases each while Munger has 80.
Bhojpur and Begusarai reported two cases each. Both the districts account for an equal number of 11 cases, though five people have recovered in Begusarai as against only one inBhojpur.
According to the superintendent of Begusarai Sadar Hospital, where COVID-19 patients from the district are lodged in isolation wards, both the patients happen to be men in their40s and actively associated with the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation.
While one had attended its congregation at Nizamuddin in New Delhi last month, the other had taken part in a gathering at Bihar Sharif in Nalanda district, which is one of the hotspots in the state.
One person each tested positive in Sitamarhi, Aurangabad, Madhepura and Vaishali districts.
Two COVID-19 patients, one each from Vaishali and Munger, have died while 65 have recovered fully.
Close to 300 cases have been reported in the state in the last 10 days.
The number of samples tested so far is 21,180. Testing is conducted at six labs four in Patna and one each in Muzaffarpur and Darbhanga. NAC RG KJ