10 Kyrgyzstan nationals, two Indians detained in Bihar over

Two Indians and 10 Kyrgyzstan nationals were held in preventive custody here on Monday in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak and sent to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the city for tests, police said.

Acting on a complaint by the locals, police picked them up from a mosque in Kurji area of the Bihar capital. The foreigners were Islamic preachers, Digha police station SHO Manoj Kumar said.

The two guides are residents of Uttar Pradesh, he said.

Six of them were tested negative for COVID-19 while reports of the others are awaited, the police officer said.

Six persons whose reports are awaited have been quarantined at a city hotel.

"Initially, we detained them for medical examination but later set six of them free," the officer said, adding all had valid travel documents.

They had arrived in the national capital in January this year, he added.

The Bihar government had on Sunday announced a lockdown in urban areas with immediate effect to contain the possible spread of the novel coronavirus.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar said the lockdown will remain in force in all district, sub-divisional and block headquarters, and municipal towns till March 31.

The state had reported its first death due to COVID-19 on Sunday when a man with a travel history to Qatar died at the AIIMS here.