17 test positive for COVID-19 in Bihar, total count 113

The number of COVID-19 cases crossed the 100-mark in Bihar on Monday as 17 people tested positive for the disease in Nalanda district, taking the total count of such cases to 113 in the state, a top official said.

Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said all the fresh cases -- seven females aged between 17 and 50 years, 10 males in the age group of 14 to 50 years -- were reported from Bihar Sharif, the headquarters of Nalanda district.

Contact-tracing for the patients was on, Kumar said, adding that it was not immediately known how many of the patients were related to each other.

The fresh cases took the number of COVID-19 patients in Nalanda, which is Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's home district, to 28, placing it right after Siwan, which has reported 29 cases, the official said.

This is the second-highest jump in the number of coronavirus cases in the state so far. On April 10, Siwan had reported 19 cases.