Bihar reports 1659 Covid-19 cases, highest single day spike in six months

The state's active caseload stands at 3,881

Bihar registered its highest single day spike in six months on Wednesday when 1659 people tested positive causing the active caseload to shoot past the 3000 mark, an official said.

The number of fresh cases is nearly twice as much as a day ago and the active caseload, which stands at 3,881, has grown by more than 50 per cent since the previous day, he said.

Sharing the figures, Pratyay Amrit, the additional chief secretary to the departments of health and disaster management, told reporters that only 63 COVID patients were hospitalized while the rest were in home isolation.

"The low rate of hospitalization so far is no reason for complacency. The elderly continue to be more vulnerable. An 85-year-old lady admitted to AIIMS, Patna, has been put on ventilation," he said.

Amrit said the low hospitalization rate could be because a large number of people have taken vaccines, "which may not protect fully against the contagion but serve as a bulwark against the severity of infection".

The additional chief secretary urged the people to get their wards vaccinated and said that since Monday 4.5 lakh minors have been jabbed in the state.

Asked about the number of Omicron cases in the state, which has so far reported only a single confirmed case, Amrit said the first genome sequencing facility in the state became operational two days ago.

"It takes nearly a week for the reports to come. The general behavior of the contagion as of now suggests that the current spike is largely due to Omicron though there may also be some cases of Delta and Delta plus variants", he said.

Meanwhile, the state government undertook yet another drastic revision of the death toll confirming 13,786 fatalities.

The figure was shared by Special Secretary Upendra Nath Pandey after a meeting of the state cabinet.

He attributed the rise in the toll to "1699 fresh applications" received from those who have lost a family member to coronavirus and are eligible for compensation from the state government.

Bihar government had last year decided to give ex-gratia of Rs four lakh to the next of the kin of each deceased, while another Rs 50,000 will be paid to every beneficiary "in accordance with a direction from the union home ministry," Pandey said.

To this end, release of Rs 125 crore from the Bihar Contingency Fund was approved by the state cabinet.