Bihar's COVID-19 tally reaches 1,079 with 46 fresh cases

Patna, May 16 () Forty-six more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar, taking the total number of cases in the state to 1,079, a senior health department official said here on Saturday.

Principal Secretary (Health) Sanjay Kumar said these 46 samples tested positive for the virus on Friday.

Among the fresh cases, five have been reported from Patna district where the tally has gone up to 105. While one is a 14-year-old girl from the rural Bakhtiyarpur area, the remaining four are male personnel of the Bihar Military Police's 14th battalion, he said.

The number of BMP-14 personnel, stationed at Khajpura locality in the city, who have been found infected till date has now reached 25.

The chain of infection in the area began with a 32-year-old woman from Bijli Gali by-lane testing positive last month upon being admitted to AIIMS, Patna with breathing trouble.

Within a few days, nearly 20 residents of the by-lane fell prey to the contagion which also spread to nearby localities like Raja Bazar and a slum located close to the Bihar Public Service Commission office on Bailey Road.

At least five barracks of BMP-14, besides Bijli Gali, the slum close to BPSC and Machhli Gali by-lane in Raja Bazar have been declared as containment zones, Patna District Magistrate Kumar Ravi said, adding that the lockdown is being enforced in the strictest form in these localities.

Seven more people tested positive for COVID-19 in Jamui district, which reported its first case on May 12 and now has altogether 10 patients, the principal secretary said.

Eighteen more cases were reported from Banka district while 10 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Sheikhpura, three in Katihar and two in Aurangabad.

A two-year-old boy tested positive for COVID-19 in Munger district which accounts for the maximum number of 123 confirmed cases.

All the 38 districts in the state have been affected by the pandemic and those with a high incidence also include Rohtas (77), Kaimur (66) and Buxar (59).

The number of cases in Bihar has risen sharply since the beginning of the month, mainly because of migrants returning to their native places in large numbers by special trains in addition to other modes of transport.

According to the state health department, 427 migrants arriving since May 4 have tested positive for COVID-9. Most of them had come from Delhi (112), Gujarat (106) and Maharashtra (97).

Close to three lakh migrants have returned to the state from other parts of the country in 'Shramik Special' trains while the total number, including those coming by buses, trucks, bicycles and on foot, is estimated to be in excess of a million.

Till date, 44,398 samples have been tested in the state and efforts were on to enhance the testing capacity drastically to contain the infection.

At present, testing of samples is held at four places in Patna and one each in Muzaffarpur, Darbhanga and Bhagalpur.

The rate of testing was adversely affected because the testing facility at Bhagalpur ran short of cartridges on Friday, though the principal secretary said replenishment will be ensured at the earliest. AR NAC ACD SNE