Two more test positive for COVID-19 in Bihar; total reaches 66

Two people tested positive for COVID-19 in Bihar on Monday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 66, a top official said. Principal Secretary, Health, Sanjay Kumar said a 40-year-old man from Nalanda district, who had returned from Dubai on March 23, has tested positive. The district had earlier reported two cases, both of whom have recovered.

In addition, a 34-year-old man tested positive in Begusarai, raising the total number of cases reported from the district to seven, the official said, adding that his contact tracing was being done. Alongside Munger, right across the river Ganges, Begusarai is now the second-worst affected district in Bihar after Siwan, which alone has accounted for 29 COVID-19 patients, over a score of them members of the same family.

The sole fatality due to the disease in the state was a 38-year-old from Munger who suffered from renal failure and died a day before reports confirmed that he was COVID-19 positive. The district now has no active cases. In Begusarai, however, only one patient has recovered so far. Four boys in their teens had tested positive last week though none of them had a travel history. The administration had learnt that they used to spend a lot of time at a local mosque, triggering speculations that they might have come in contact with those associated with the Tablighi Jamaat.

However, none of the attendees of the congregation at Nizamuddin in the national capital tracked down in the state, including foreign nationals, has tested positive so far. Altogether, 26 COVID-19 patients have recovered in Bihar so far, Kumar said, pointing out that the state was second only to Kerala in terms of recovery rate. Till date, 7,263 samples have been tested at four facilities in the state. Meanwhile, testing of samples also commenced at the SKMCH in Muzaffarpur on Monday, state Health Minister Mangal Pandey announced. At least 17 samples were tested there on the inaugural day.