Ensure temporary accommodation to those returning to villages from other states: Bihar Additional Chief Secretary to DEOs

Bihar's Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) RK Mahajan on Monday wrote to all District Education Officers (DEO) to ensure temporary accommodation to all those who are coming to their villages from other states.

"It came to notice that people are hesitant to allow fellow villagers, who are coming from other states to live in their homes. Hence, all DEOs are instructed to ensure temporary accommodation in government schools or Panchayat Bhawans," Mahajan wrote in the letter.

"Principal of the schools are instructed to ensure the availability of water, sanitation, and toilets in the school building," the letter reads.

A large number of people were seen on Monday at Muzaffarpur's bus stand, despite a lockdown in the state as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus.

The sample of the 38-year-old man, who passed away on Saturday due to kidney failure in Bihar's state capital, tested positive for coronavirus, according to Dr Prabhat Kumar Singh of AIIMS-Patna.

The man, a resident of Munger district, had a travel history to Qatar, and on his arrival in Patna via Kolkata, was admitted to the AIIMS.

Following his death, the hospital administration sent his sample for COVID-19 testing and they returned positive on Saturday evening.

The lockdown in the state will continue till March 31 in Bihar and all inter-state public transport has been suspended.

According to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the total number of COVID-19 positive cases in the country stood at 433 and seven deaths.