Bihar reports 5,908 fresh Covid-19 cases, highest tally since January 1

Bihar on Tuesday recorded 5,908 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day spike since January 1, as the positivity rate mounted to 3.14 per cent in the state.

With five fresh deaths in 24 hours, the total fatalities rose to 12,111 in Bihar, the state health department said. With addition of new cases, 1,171 more than the previous day, and deaths, the state's COVID-19 tally jumped to 7,56,045, said the bulletin issued by the state health department.

This rise is the highest since January 1 when 281 cases were logged with a recovery rate of 98.23 per cent. No fresh deaths were recorded on that day.

Of the 5,908 new cases and five deaths in the state, 2,202 fresh infections, 364 less than the day before, were reported from Patna alone.

On Monday, the state capital had logged 2,566 fresh cases. The state's overall active coronavirus count jumped to 25,051 on Tuesday. Among other prominent personalities, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday. With five fresh deaths recorded in the past 24 hours, the state's overall recovery rate declined to 95.08 per cent on Tuesday, the bulletin said.

The recovery rate was 95.59 per cent on Monday. Of the five fresh casualties, one death each was reported from Nalanda Medical College and Hospital (NMCH), Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), Bhagalpur, Gaya and Muzaffarpur.

All those who died in the past 24 hours, were already suffering from several serious complications. When their samples were tested they turned out to be COVID-19 positive, said a senior official of the state health department. The state has so far accounted for one confirmed case of the Omicron variant. Meanwhile, the Bihar government on Monday started administering the third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, or the booster dose, to vulnerable groups such as healthcare and frontline workers and elderly people.

"Around 61,000 booster doses were administered to the people till Monday," said the official.

Meanwhile, 71,8882 people recuperated from the disease so far, including 1790 in the last 24 hours. Altogether 6.27 crore samples have been tested so far, including 1.88 lakh in the last 24 hours.