704 fresh COVID-19 cases take total tally in Bihar to 13,978; death toll reaches 109

The coronavirus infection continued to rage through Bihar with the state registering over 700 cases for the second day in a row on Thursday, prompting more district administrations to impose lockdown or similar restrictive measures.

According to the Bihar health department, the total tally of coronavirus cases reached 13,978 with 704 new instances of the infection on Thursday, a day after the state witnessed its biggest single-day spike of 749.

With the steepest rise of nine fatalities, the COVID-19 death toll in the state mounted to 109. However, it was not known how many of the fatalities that were reported on Thursday had taken place in the last 24 hours.

Patna district, where a seven-day lockdown would begin on Friday, accounts for the highest number of casualties at 13, followed by Begusarai, Darbhanga and Samastipur with seven each and Muzaffarpur, Nalanda, Saran and Siwan with five each.

Patna also topped the state in the number of cases reported during the day at 132 and the overall tally which now stood at 1,485.

The positive cases included four staff attached to the office of Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi. The office has been sealed for thorough sanitisation.

Recently, a relative of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, staying at his official residence in Patna, and a police personnel have tested positive for COVID-19.

In view of the continued spurt in the number of cases, lockdowns were announced on Thursday in Khagaria and Nalanda districts for five days.

Khagaria District Magistrate Alok Ranjan said the lockdown would remain in force from July 10-14, while Nalanda DM Yogendra Singh announced the same from July 11 to July 15.

Earlier, lockdowns of different durations have been announced in Bhagalpur, Nawada, Jehanabad, West Champaran and East Champaran and Kishanganj districts.

Muzaffarpur District Magistrate Chandrashekhar Singh did not go for a full lockdown but ordered that all commercial establishments shall be open only between 10 am and 5 pm on weekdays and remain shut on Saturday and Sunday.

In all, 9,272 people have been discharged after full recovery from the viral infection till date.

Moreover, on account of the number of fresh cases outnumbering recoveries for quite some time, the recovery rate has dipped to 70.04 per cent from about 77 per cent a week ago. It is, however, still higher than the national average.

The number of samples tested so far was 2.82 lakh.

The number of tests conducted per day on an average remains less than 7,000 which is much lower than in many other states, for which the opposition has been targeting the Nitish Kumar government.