COVID-19 claims 14 more lives in Bihar; caseload crosses 20,000

Bihar on Wednesday reported its sharpest rise in COVID-19 deaths with 14 casualties within a span of 24 hours, while 1,320 fresh cases caused state's tally to breach 20,000-mark, according to state health department.

From vills situated on outskirts of state capital, to its posh localities and hallowed precincts of Patna High Court, Raj Bhawan and Chief Ministers Residence, people have tested positive everywhere, though department was tight-lipped on details.

In West Champaran district, Sanjay Jaiswal, Lok Sabha chief whip of ruling BJP at centre and also its Bihar unit president, tested positive along with some close members of his family, a health department official said.

Jaiswal is understood to have caught contagion during his visit last week to party’s state hequarters here which emerged as a hot spot of sorts on previous day when 24 people, including party full-timers and employees hired for running errands at office, h tested positive.

Among fresh casualties, five deaths were reported in Patna district, followed by two each in Gaya and Munger and one each in Aurangab, Begusarai, Bhagalpur, Nawa and Saran, department’s bulletin said.

Patna accounts for highest number of 23 fatalities so far, followed by Bhagalpur (13), Darbhanga (10), Gaya (09) and Begusarai, Nalanda and Samastipur (07 each).

Patna district was also rattled by 242 fresh cases, which raised its tally to 2,501, highest in state, where aggregate for all 38 districts reached 20,173.

Bhagalpur district, which has second highest tally of 1,134, on Wednesday recorded its biggest single-day spike of 125 cases. Those testing positive included at least six reputed medical practitioners.

terror of coronavirus was witnessed in town where district is hequartered when a middle-d town visited a medical store to purchase a medicine for his evident breathlessness and collapsed face-down.

Onlookers stood frozen for a while and, upon regaining a semblance of composure, tried to resuscitate him by sprinkling water from a distance, fearing that he might be infected.

Upon realising that it was too late y informed police and health officials who reached spot and kept a watch till body was taken away in an ambulance.

identity of man was t kwn.

Health department officials said his sample will be collected before his last rites and sent for testing since shortness of breath is one of several COVID-19 symptoms.

Meanwhile, state was bracing for a 16-day complete lockdown, anunced on Tuesday and to be effective from Thursday, which has been clamped in view of unprecedented spurt in coronavirus cases over last few weeks.

Although 13,533 people have recovered so far across state, 514 of m in last 24 hours, rate of recovery has of late t been able to keep pace with rising cases.

This has caused state’s recovery rate to plunge to 67.08 per cent, a drop of more than 10 per cent in a fortnight.

number of samples tested after Tuesday was 10,052.