Centre to send expert team to review grim COVID situation in Bihar, low testing rate

Amid worsening COVID-19 situation in Bihar and political blame game between ruling NDA and Opposition, Centre has stepped in and has decided to send a special team to assess  condition. Centre has also assured that all necessary help will be provided to state government. While BJP headquarters in capital Patna has become COVID hotspot, with more than 70 people infected with virus, all districts have reported COVID cases and state has, till date, tested only 3.58 lakh samples. 

"In view of rising trend of COVID-19 cases being observed in Bihar, a decision has been taken to depute a multi-disciplinary team to review and coordinate with State Health Department in managing COVID-19 outbreak re," Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said. " Centre shall undertake visit immediately and coordinate with state health authorities to review existing situation and provide necessary support and guidance," Health Ministry added.

team will comprise of Joint Secretary in Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal, Dr S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control and Dr Neeraj Nischal, Associate Professor, Medicine at AIIMS New Delhi. 

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Letter to Principal Health Secretary 

Moreover, Joint Secretary in Ministry of Health Lav Agarwal has written a letter to Principal Secretary (Health) and Secretary (Health) and has asked m to ensure that at least 80 per cent of new cases have ir close contacts traced and are in quarantine within 72 hours of case confirmation. letter underlined that containment and buffer zones should be suitably delineated based on mapping of cases and contacts, and a list of NCC volunteers along with or workforce is available on COVID warriors' portal which can be optimally utilised in containment and surveillance effort.

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letter stated that overall testing is "very low" in state vis-a-vis national aver, and districts like Patna, Bhagalpur, Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Begusarai and Munger are reporting higher number of cases while Saharsa, Gaya, Paschim Champaran, Jamui, Arwal, Saran and Khagaria are emerging hotspots.

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Bihar's COVID tally

death toll due to COVID-19 in Bihar on Friday mounted to 174 with six fresh fatalities, while tally reached 23,300, a rise of close to 1,800 cases since previous day. health department said state reported 901 fresh cases in last 24 hours. Siwan accounted for highest number of 122 new cases, followed by Nalanda (105), Patna (99), West Champaran (98) and Munger (58). On Thursday, state's COVID-19 tally stood at 21,558.

While several officials at Chief Minister's residence tested positive, around 20 members at Bihar Goverr, Phagu Chauhan’s house has also tested positive for Covid-19. Moreover, officials at health ministry Mangal Pandey's office also tested positive. Moreover, Bihar BJP state president and Lok Sabha MP from Bettiah, Sanjay Jaiswal, his wife and mor also tested positive for coronavirus.

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