COVID-19 death toll in Bihar rises to 44 with 5 new fatalities; total cases climb to 7,040

Patna, June 18 () The COVID-19 death toll in Bihar rose to 44 on Thursday with five fatalities being reported in 24 hours while the total tally of cases breached the 7,000-mark as 100 people tested positive for the dreaded disease, a top health department official said.

A 63-year-old man from Gaya who breathed his last earlier on Thursday became the first COVID-19 fatality in the central Bihar district. Besides, a 70-year-old man from Darbhanga and a 53-year-old patient in Nalanda, both suffering from co-morbidities, died on Wednesday night, state Health secretary Lokesh Kumar Singh said.

The state health department, in its daily bulletin, confirmed one death each in West Champaran and Saran districts.

Of the 44 deaths across the state, Begusarai, Darbhanga, Khagaria, Saran and Vaishali have reported the highest three fatalities each. Bhojpur, Jehanabad, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Patna, Sitamarhi and Siwan districts reported two deaths each.

The districts which accounted for one casualty each are Araria, Aurangabad, Bhagalpur, Gaya, Jamui, Katihar, Madhepura, Madhubani, Munger, Nawada, West Champaran, East Champaran, Rohtas, Samastipur and Sheohar.

The total COVID-19 caseload in Bihar rose to 7,040 on Thursday.

Patna has reported the highest 347 coronavirus cases, followed by Bhagalpur with 342 instances of the disease, Begusarai 335, Madhubani 325 and Rohtas 307.

All the 38 districts in the state have reported COVID-19 cases and 34 of these have their tallies in double digits. The number of active cases was more than 100 in Madhubani, Patna and Siwan while in the remaining 35 districts it was in double digits.

The number of COVID-19 patients who have recovered from the disease stood at 4,961, the health department said. The number of swab samples tested till date was 1.39 lakh.

A heavy influx of migrants returning to Bihar during the lockdown has contributed significantly to the spike that the state has witnessed in the past one-and-a-half months.

According to the health secretary, the number of people who tested positive after travelling from out of the state since May 3 was 4,687. NAC RG NSD NSD