Bihar Coronavirus cases rise to 143, 2 dead and 42 recovered

• Bihar currently has 82 active Coronavirus patients as 42 patients have recovered.
• The state government reported 17 new cases of Coronavirus on April 22.
• So far, 2 patients have succumbed to the deadly disease in the state.

Bihar reported 17b new cases of Coronavirus on April 22 taking the total number of cases in the state to 143. In some good news for the state, 5 more patients have recovered from the deadly disease, taking the total number of recovered patients to 42. The Bihar government has revealed that 1,456 people have been put under observation in the state.

The health authorities have launched door-to-door screening to identify coronavirus infected people in Covid-19 affected districts of the state.


Returnee migrants will get employment in Bihar

Bihar's Agriculture and Animal and Fishery Resources Minister Prem Kumar said that the state government had chalked out a plan to provide employment to a large number of labourers who have returned to the state since the lockdown began.

Kumar said that the department would help the migrant workers earn a livelihood through fox nut production, bee farming, banana cultivation, goat rearing and mushroom cultivation under the Biotech-KISAN scheme.

57 foreigners related to Jamaat arrested

The Bihar government is tightening the grip over those who had attended the congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin Markaz, as 57 foreigners of different countries have been arrested in Patna, Buxar, Kishanganj and Araria for violating visa rules.

According to the police, all the arrested were associated with Tablighi Jamaat. 18 have been arrested from Araria while 17 from Patna and 11 each from Kishanganj and Buxar. All of them were tested of coronavirus but they tested negative.

21 cases belong to one family in Siwan district

Siwan is the worst-affected district in Bihar and this is thanks to just one family. According to the latest numbers released by the Bihar state government, Siwan has 29 confirmed cases of Coronavirus out of which 21 belong to just one family. This has caused the sudden spurt in the number of confirmed cases in the state from 39 to 60.

Additionally, active cases have doubled from 22 to 44.

Bihar DM gets life threat for announcing Coronavirus screening

The District Magistrate of Bihar's Darbhanga, Tyagrajan S.M., got a life threat over Facebook when he announced screening of people in a post. The accused has offered a bounty of ₹2 lakh to whoever kills the DM.

Announcing the screening of people who have come from outside the state, the Darbhanga DM wrote on his official page on Thursday: "A screening test will be done of all the people who have come from outside the state".

A man, Mohammad Faisal offered a bounty on the DM. He said, "Whoever will shoot the Darbhanga DM, I will give him Rs 2 lakh".

Bihar closes inter-state borders

Bihar has sealed all its inter-state borders with Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Jharkhand. The border with Nepal has also been sealed. Even movement from one district to another has been stopped, except in emergencies.

"Many people had thronged the state's borders. They have now been shifted to their native places and will have to remain in quarantine in schools and other places. Now on, no one can enter the state," state DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said.

Around 13,000 persons who had returned to the state from elsewhere have been sent to their native places after screening. The data on those who are expected to arrive is being prepared.

Returning migrants pose a challenge to the government

The migrant labourers returning to Bihar has posed a big challenge to the state government as they are supposed to be kept in isolation for 14 days. Over 45,000 people had reached the UP towns bordering Bihar and more than 100,000 were expected by evening, said a Bihar Disaster Management Department official, here on March 30.

Pratyam Amrit, Principal Secretary of the Disaster Management Department, said, "Six camps have been set up along the Bihar-UP border. By Monday, we are expecting 1.30 lakh people to reach the borders. We are looking to provide them food and make arrangements for their stay during the quarantine period."

"People from other states are being registered at the disaster border relief camps. Their health is being checked. After food and rest, they are being provided buses by the Transport Department in the district headquarters. Arrangements have been made to send them, " said another official.

One killed by migrants for reporting their arrival

Bablu, a resident of Madhual village, Sitamarhi district was allegedly killed because he informed the health officials about the arrival of people from other states to his village.

As per reports, two migrant workers had returned to their home from Maharashtra earlier this week. Bablu informed the health officials about their arrival who then collected the samples from the migrants. The two migrants then thrashed Bablu to death with the help of five others.

All seven people involved in the assault have been arrested by the police and a case has been registered against them under the relevant sections of IPC.

Migrants forced to walk home from Delhi to Bihar

As factories and non-essential businesses have been shut due to the nationwide lockdown, migrants have been left jobless. A huge number of people have been forced to walk back to their native places in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh due to lack of public transport.

Kishan Ram, a labourer from Bihar's Motihari, told IANS, "I used to stay in the factory where I worked. And now I am having no shelter to take refuge thus I am left with no option but to walk down to my home.”

Bihar government announces ₹100 crore for Coronavirus relief fund

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has granted ₹100 crore for the Coronavirus relief fund. This fund will be used to help the poor and daily wage workers of the state.

The government has said that it will provide food and shelter to the people and help the migrants stranded in other states. The government has reportedly decided to convert government schools in the state into shelter homes.

With inputs from IANS.

See also:
Coronavirus cases in Telangana
Coronavirus cases in Andhra Pradesh
Coronavirus cases in Gujarat
Coronavirus cases in Uttar Pradesh