Bihar witnesses spike in COVID-19 cases, 12 test positive in a day

Bihar witnessed the steepest rise in the number of COVID-19 cases on Thursday, when as many as 12 people tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus, taking the total count in the state to 51, a top official said.

The number of active cases in the state, which had plunged to just over 20 earlier this week as nobody tested positive for two days while many recovered, has also rebounded and reached 35.

One patient has died in the state and 15 have recovered.

According to Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar, Siwan bordering Uttar Pradesh reported 10 cases and is now the worst-hit district in the state by the pandemic with 20 people having tested positive so far, of whom four had recovered a few days ago.

The fresh cases from Siwan are a 10-year-old boy, two girls aged 12 years, five women aged between 20 and 50 years and two men in their 30s. Most of them are related to each other and all have contracted the infection from other relatives with a travel history to places like Oman and Dubai, Kumar said.

Siwan is known for sending a large number of people to the middle east for employment.

Two boys aged 15 and 18 years tested positive in Begusarai, where two others in the same age group were found infected earlier this week. The district now has five cases and shares the second spot in the state in terms of the number of COVID-19 cases with Gaya.

The development in Begusarai has caused jitters in the state capital since Patna district shares its eastern borders with the former.

Patna District Magistrate (DM) Kumar Ravi has ordered sealing of borders with the adjacent district as a preventive measure.

Notably, Patna had reported five cases but all of them have recovered. At least two of them were employees of a private hospital here and contracted the infection from a patient who suffered from renal failure, was rushed to AIIMS, Patna and died the night prior to test reports confirming that he was COVID-19 positive.

The deceased, a 38-year-old man who had returned from Qatar, hailed from Munger where six persons ended up catching the infection, though all of them have recovered.

Three hospitals in the state -- one each in Patna, Bhagalpur and Gaya -- have been converted into dedicated COVID-19 facilities.

Tests are being conducted at four places -- an ICMR centre in Patna, two medical college hospitals in the city and another one in Darbhanga.