Bihar reports 19 COVID-19 deaths; number of cases rises to 3,359

Patna, May 29 () The COVID-19 toll in Bihar rose to 19 on Friday with the death of a patient while undergoing treatment at a hospital here and samples of two others from Bhojpur and Bhagalpur districts collected after their deaths testing positive, officials said.

The number of coronavirus cases in the state also continued to surge with 174 people testing positive, taking the total tally to 3,359.

The number of people who have recovered till date stood at 1,209 while 72,256 samples have been tested so far, the health department said.

A 62-year-old man from Siwan, who had travelled to Mumbai, was admitted to the Nalanda Medical College Hospital here upon testing positive for the infection. He breathed his last in the afternoon, Hospital Superintendent N K Singh said.

He said the man suffered from a number of co-morbidities such as diabetes and high blood pressure and had also suffered a paralytic attack in the past.

Bhojpur district registered its second COVID-19 fatality when the sample of a 55-year-old migrant worker, who had died on May 26, tested positive for coronavirus.

District Magistrate Raushan Kumar said the man had breathed his last at a government hospital in Tarari block and his sample was collected as per ICMR guidelines before cremation.

On Thursday, the sample of another Mumbai returnee, aged 22 years, who had died on May 26 at Sadar hospital in Arrah, tested positive.

In Bhagalpur, the sample of a 41-year-old resident of Jagdishpur block who returned from Mumbai on Sunday and died on Wednesday, came positive. The block's medical officer in charge Braj Bhushan Mandal said the person had arrived in a vehicle along with seven others.

He had gone home straight without showing up for screening at any of the quarantine centres. The man died while travelling to Bhagalpur town on a three-wheeler to see a doctor later when he developed symptoms.

Earlier, Patna, Vaishali and Khagaria districts had reported two casualties each while Munger, East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Rohtas, Siwan, Saran, Begusarai, Jehanabad and Nalanda have accounted for one fatality each.

Of the fresh COVID 19 cases, Bhagalpur reported 25 cases, followed by Jehanabad and Sheikhpura 20 each, Madhubani 14, Bhojpur and Purnea 12 each, Kaimur 10 and Gopalganj eight.

Patna district, the worst-affected in the state with 234 cases till Thursday night, added four fresh cases to its tally. Other districts with high numbers of cases are Rohtas 201, Madhubani 183, Begusarai 180 and Munger 149.

All 38 districts in the state have reported COVID-19 cases. With just seven cases, Sheohar is the only district with a single-digit tally.

The state has seen a steep rise in COVID-19 tally since the beginning of this month, mainly on account of the influx of migrants who have been returning in large number on board Shramik Special trains and other modes of transport.

According to data released by the health department, till date the number of migrants who tested positive was 2,310. NAC NSD